The city of West Allis could spend $29.5 million as an incentive for the construction of a 247-unit apartment building planned on West National Avenue.
The $48 million project by Milwaukee development firm Three Leaf Partners is expected to create $60 million in incremental value by 2051 while also redeveloping a blighted area and helping meet the demand for market-rate apartments, according to a spending plan the city is considering.
Under the plan, the city would create a new tax incremental district (TID) to help fund the project. It would use taxes generated by the new apartments to pay $28.8 million in incentives to Three Leaf over 27 years, representing a current value of $13 million. The remaining $745,000 would cover administrative, legal and professional services costs associated with the TID.
West Allis has provided public financing for at least two other apartment projects on National Avenue as it also looks to attract young professionals and support new businesses that have moved to the area in recent years, West Allis economic development executive director Patrick Schloss previously told the Milwaukee Business Journal.
The city’s incentive would enable the firm to secure an $11.8 million loan from a private lender to fund a portion of the project’s construction.
The city’s Community Development Authority on Monday evening approved the TID boundaries and project plan. It goes to the Common Council on July 18 and would then need final approval by the city’s joint review board.
Three Leaf Partners, co-founded by Milwaukee Bucks player Pat Connaughton, purchased three acres for the project in late March, paying $1.8 million for the site at 8530-8556 W. National Ave. It formerly was the site of the Clark Oil headquarters and currently has an underutilized office building that will be demolished.
Connaughton’s firm plans a six-story building with market-rate units and amenities including a coworking space, a pool and cabanas, and a dog run. Construction is slated to start this summer.
West Allis previously earmarked $15.7 million to support the 110-unit SoNa Lofts apartments and $16.9 million for the 177-unit The West apartments — two of the recent redevelopment projects to go up further east on National Avenue. The area surrounding the city’s popular farmers market site has also seen the addition of a brewery, and plans are in place for a new food and beverage development called Makers Row.
