The City of Milwaukee is ready to unload seven acres of prime real estate in Bay View -- land that had been home to an Army Reserve site. The Department of City Development identified the site at Bay and Lincoln streets as a "key development opportunity or catalytic project."

Area Ald. Tony Zielinski has said he would like to see a "solar village" concept put in play for the land, including housing. Senior housing was floated as a possibility, and according to the now-complete Southeast Side Plan -- still in draft form and requiring Common Council approval -- and the soon-to-be released redevelopment criteria, that appears to be an option.

A Common Council committee was to consider a proposal to label the land as "surplus" and put it up for bids. The plan calls for a three or four-month marketing effort. The terms of the plan, as considered by the Council's Public Works Committee, include:

• A mix of taxable single-family, townhouse and multi-family residential units that positively impact the surrounding residential neighborhood.
• High level of sustainable building elements and energy-efficient practices, with extra credit given for certified Green Building projects.
• A majority of the units should be owner-occupied.
• Some retail could go along Bay Street.

Prohibited uses would be any plans for tax-exempt properties, day care centers, convenience stores, gun shops, payday loan stores, taverns and auto garages and dealers.

The resolution considered this week also calls for community representatives to participate on the project review panel.

The Southeast Side Plan, which is up for approval next week, is a more comprehensive document encompassing the southeast side of the city. It offers two concepts for the parcel. One includes two-story buildings closer in scale to the existing neighborhood along Logan Avenue and three story buildings along Bay Street.

The second alternative would likely be a little more controversial; it includes taller buildings in order to create lake views.

"The second concept creates individual garden plots, shared green space and lake views by selectively adding two taller buildings while keeping the density of the development the same," states the plan.

Driving force: The City of Milwaukee's driver's license recovery program is gaining in popularity, so much so that officials brought in extra staff to handle the caseload, according to a report on the effort to be issued next week.

The recovery program helps low-income people get their driver's licenses back, offers free driver's education and works to limit license revocations and suspensions by offering community service or lenient payment plans.

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Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by mkelvr on Oct. 18, 2008 at 5:12 p.m. (report)

Decent sized single family homes please (not mcmansions but enough for a modern family with attached garages).

Posted by Daus on Oct. 17, 2008 at 4:11 p.m. (report)

"Area Ald. Tony Zielinski has said he would like to see a "solar village" concept put in play for the land" Do these people understand how silly they sound? And yes, heres a clue guys... it would be good to have buildings with LAKE VIEWS if you would like to extract maximum value. The place is called Bay View for a reason.