Building in our backyard
2019 will see the completion of some significant development projects throughout Dane County.
From the pages of In Business magazine.
New York City may be known as the “city that never sleeps,” but it’s a wonder that Greater Madison-area developers and contractors are getting any shuteye with the sheer amount of construction taking place throughout the city and Dane County.
And make no bones about it, there are some major projects going up in and around Madison in 2019.
Higher education is a big beneficiary of the current construction boom, as Madison College will open its new South campus in the fall and UW–Madison is renovating or opening several buildings of its own this year.
West Place, not surprisingly on Madison’s west side, is a three building, multiphase teardown of the old Madison College West campus.
Garver Feed Mill’s long-anticipated restoration and transformation into a production center for high-quality, locally made food and drink will bridge the gap between the historic landmark’s past and future.
Yahara Commons, along Monona’s riverfront, will complete its first two phases this summer — a mixed-use residential and retail space, along with the Avid Hotel — and begin construction on the third and final stage around the same time.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg on the bevy of local projects going up this year, many of which are featured over the next few pages.
Campus of upward mobility
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Madison College South CampusScheduled for completion: September |
In opening its new 75,000-square-foot south campus in time for the start of the fall semester, Madison College is aiming to provide a spark in one of Madison’s poorest and most diverse neighborhoods.
The Goodman South Campus, on schedule to open Sept. 3, will be a two-story building located at the corner of South Park Street and Badger Road. It will feature about 20 classrooms, four science labs, three computer labs, a library, and a dining area. The entire facility has been the vision of Madison College President Dr. Jack E. Daniels for some time.
“When I think about the impact on the community and at the college, part of our role is to serve the needs in the area in which we’re working,” explains Daniels. “We based everything about the south campus on the needs — the needs of underemployed, unemployed, unskilled folks who are looking to have skill development, so they can be employable, gainfully, with a family living wage.”
The south campus project began in June 2018 with the demolition of a former state office building. As of December, the project was more than one-third of the way complete, with progress remaining steadily on track, says Daniels.
“We know [the south campus] is going to impact economic development because we’ve got employers seeking employees,” notes Daniels. “The demand is outstripping the supply. This is another way to reach a number of folks who without access to our institution on the south side would not have the capacity to get the type of skills necessary to meet the workforce needs.”
Daniels says along with its partners in the area — from Centro Hispano to the Literacy Network to Reach Dane — the south campus will act like a hub for addressing the needs of the folks who live in the surrounding area, many of whom have lived in poverty and are looking for ways out of it.
“All the classrooms will be up to the standards that we have at the Truax campus,” adds Daniels. “Those are the types of standards that you look for in the classroom. [Faculty] will be able to reach populations they haven’t reached in the past.”
The south campus facility, which will replace the existing south campus at Villager Mall, will enable Madison College to make profound qualitative improvements in courses and degree offerings. The south campus will have a different emphasis than the Truax campus and serve as an “on ramp” for certain health care and technology degrees. It will have a strong STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) focus, plus basic manufacturing, early childhood education, and an increasing liberal arts portfolio.
The college has a number of equipment-intensive programs at its Truax campus, but it has no intention of duplicating them on the south campus. “That would be [cost] prohibitive for us, but we’re going to have on ramps to some of those programs that would still be at Truax,” Daniels says.
Three technology labs will feature some Cisco and custom service training within the technology realm, but perhaps the most promising tech feature will be the Early College STEM Academy, which is a partnership with the Madison Metropolitan School District to offer a dual-credit technology curriculum. Two years from the start of the new south campus, Daniels hopes to see up to 200 select Madison junior and senior high school students come to the college, do all their educational training there, and receive college credit that is also used for their high school requirements.
The south campus building also will be open to the community for meetings, events, and association activities. It will offer a full menu of student services, including financial literacy, and serve as a seven-day-a-week campus with alternative programming such as weekend college for people who can’t take advantage of course offerings Monday through Friday.
It also promises to be more accessible than the Truax campus. In the past, Daniels has cited the transportation issues faced by south Madison residents who want to enroll in programming at the Truax campus. This location promises to make transportation much less of an issue and will feature shuttle service back and forth between the two campuses for students to get hands-on technical training in various course offerings.
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Keeping Current
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Yahara CommonsScheduled for completion: Phase 1 June, Phase 2 fall |
With the first two phases of construction on the Yahara Commons project scheduled to open in June and early fall, respectively, Monona is poised to take full advantage of its proximity to the Yahara River.
According to Kristie Schilling, CEO of Monona’s East Side Business Alliance, Yahara Commons is a significant step in the development and growth of the small community.
The Current, a 96-unit apartment building with 30,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space located on the river, is at the center of the project, notes Steve Doran of Galway Companies, which is managing the property.
With a June 1 opening date, The Current is leasing residential units now, but its retail space is already 95 percent leased. Tenants include Buck and Honey’s second restaurant, including a relocated tasting room and cigar bar that will employ about 70 people; True Coffee Roasters, which is relocating its retail store from Fitchburg; and Forage Kitchen, a salad and juice restaurant that currently has one location on State Street, but with a second location in Monona and a third on the way in Hilldale, it’s expanding rapidly.
Most of The Current’s residential units have views of the river, while others have views of downtown Madison, the Capitol, or lakes Monona and Waubesa, says Doran.
Also included in the project’s first phase are a town square and public park, which will include an outdoor skating rink in the winter similar to what’s available at The Edgewater, as well as a pavilion overlooking the river that will feature yoga in the summer and host outdoor concerts and other events.
The city is also building a 3,000-square-foot park shelter called “The Lower Deck,” which will have ice skate rentals, public restrooms, and a concession stand that sells coffee, hot chocolate, ice cream, and snacks.
According to Doran, the second phase of the Yahara Commons project, scheduled for completion in the fall, is a 92-room AVID Hotel by Intercontinental Hotel Group, which will employ about 25 people. “This is a brand that IHG just came out with that is fresh, new, and exciting,” Doran says.
Phase three is slated for a 140-unit senior housing facility. Construction is tentatively set to begin this summer and be completed in the winter of 2020, notes Doran. “This is going to be a senior housing community focused on delivering seniors a place where they can live a very healthy and active lifestyle, with planned events throughout the year as well as a great connection to the city park and our phase one users.”
Feeding a need
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Garver Feed MillScheduled for completion: Summer |
Instead of being torn down, which was considered, Bachmann Construction is transforming the historic Garver Feed Mill building into a production center for high-quality, locally made food and drink that will also include an events space, outdoor patios, and other public amenities.
The $14.4 million restoration project on the 60,000-square-foot nationally registered historic landmark, built in 1905, represents the culmination of over four years of planning. From its early days as the home of the U.S. Sugar Beet Factory and then the Garver Feed and Supply, the building has long served as a reminder of the importance of Madison’s contribution to the state’s agricultural economy.
NessAlla Kombucha is already operating in Garver, and other tenants will follow as building renovations are completed.
Perennial, which is a yoga, meditation, and wellness community that has been located in Fitchburg for the past seven years, will open a second location, Perennial-EAST, at Garver. Briar Loft, a boutique floral business that is owned by Ariyl Doran and Alicia Bossher, will join Perennial East at Garver. Also adding a second location in the Madison area is Surya Café, curated by Chef Lauren Montelbano.
The tenant roster will also include Kosa Wellness, Sitka Salmon, Ian’s Pizza, Calliope Ice Cream, and Underground Catering.
Restoration of the Garver Feed Mill, located next to Olbrich Botanical Gardens, started in late 2017. The developer, Baum Revision, focuses on impactful projects in urban environments. “After years of work and collaboration with our partners, we’re excited to see this phase of the project deliver the economic activity in the community we had envisioned,” says Baum Revision’s Bryant Moroder, a member of the Garver Feed Mill development team. “Since we started, two of our future tenants have needed additional space and only a couple of spaces in the building remain.”
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Go West
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West PlaceScheduled for completion: March |
West Place, at the corner of South Gammon and Mineral Point Roads near West Towne Mall, was originally conceived as a 17-building mix of retail, commercial, and residential spaces. It was to be located on 23 acres that used to be home to Madison College’s west campus.
While that proved to be too ambitious and costly, the project remains grand in scope, notes Tim Cleary of Ideal Builders, which is collaborating on the project.
“This location is a prominent spot in the city that has hosted a number of key employers, educators, and countless citizens of Madison,” says Cleary. “Being a highly viable area of Madison, this redevelopment brings this corner full circle into a revitalized area highlighted by the prominence of Navitus, Lumicera, and retail.”
The project’s $28 million first phase includes an 80,000-square-foot, five-story office building where Navitus Health is relocating its headquarters; a two-story, 30,000-square-foot pharmacy building for Lumicera, Navitus’ specialty pharmacy division; and two retail buildings comprising an additional 5,000 square feet.
The full build-out, expected to take 10 to 15 years, would add eight total buildings and a total of 325,000 square feet to the site, enough for up to 1,000 employees.
Going up in 2019
A selection of projects slated for completion across Dane County in 2019, including project name, description, anticipated completion month, address, information provider, and rendering credit.
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Center for Industry and Commerce
Class A speculative industrial | February
3319 John Wall Drive, Madison
CG Schmidt | JA Knetter Architects / Greywolf Partners
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Exact Sciences
Manufacturing lab | June
441 Charmany Drive, Madison
Findorff | Potter Lawson
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Hotel Indigo
Boutique hotel | December
901 East Washington Ave., Madison
Potter Lawson
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Summit Credit Union Headquarters
Corporate HQ | February
P.O. Box 8046, Madison
Findorff | Strang
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UW–Madison Mead Witter School of Music — Hamel Music Center
Music hall | Spring
Corner of University Avenue and Lake Street, Madison
JP Cullen | Holzman Moss Bottino, in partnership with Strang
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UW–Madison Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery Building
Teaching, research, and outreach facility | October
1933 Observatory Drive, Madison
JP Cullen | Potter Lawson
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The Barracuda
Mixed-use condos/retail | November
222 S. Hamilton St., Madison
1848 Construction | Populance LLC
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Ronald McDonald House
Nonprofit housing | May
2716 Marshall Court, Madison
Findorff | Flad Architects
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Witte Residence Hall, UW–Madison
Student dormitory | August
615 West Johnson St., Madison
CD Smith | Potter Lawson
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Madison Veterinary Specialists
Veterinary hospital | February
2704 Royal Ave., Monona
Supreme Structures | Bill Montelbano Architect AIA
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First Choice Dental
Dental clinic | May
1827 East Washington Ave., Madison
1848 Construction | Aro Eberle Architects
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Edgewood High School PAC
Performing arts center | March
2219 Monroe St., Madison
Findorff | Potter Lawson
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1720 Monroe Street Apartments
Mixed-use apartments/retail | August
1720 Monroe St., Madison
Potter Lawson
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