Local developer sees opportunity for rebuild of Wauwatosa library, city hall

The developer behind the rebuild of Milwaukee's East Library told Wauwatosa alderman March 3 that he saw a similar possibility with Wauwatosa's library and civic center at 7725 W. North Ave.

City officials have been discussing the idea of redeveloping the building for several months. The Budget and Finance Committee delayed a vote on an office remodel Jan. 27 in order to consider the possibility of having a private developer do a total rebuild, possibly with apartments, condominiums or retail spaces.

Wauwatosa officials asked Ryan Schultz, president of HSI Properties, to give a presentation on his experience redeveloping the East Library and share his advice on doing a similar project in Wauwatosa. City officials clarified that if the idea moves forward, the city would take proposals from a variety of developers.

Schultz, who did the presentation free of charge, said Wauwatosa's library is in an ideal location for redevelopment with housing or retail components. He called the current building "arguably underused" and "somewhat antiquated and obsolete."

"I think the city's onto something with this property," Schultz said. "I think there are a lot of similarities between what can happen here and what we did with the library project."

At East Library, 1910 E. North Ave., Schultz said HSI bought the library's property, paid for the redevelopment, and sold the 17,000-square-foot library space inside to the city. The library paid for the interior build-out of its space. HSI owns the 2,500 square feet of retail space and 99 market-rate apartments included in the redevelopment.

The East Library project took about three years, from the time HSI responded to the request for proposals for redeveloping the library in 2011, to the time of building occupancy in 2014. Schultz urged city officials to consider this timeline as they think about what kind of development their budget and the market would support.

"There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes to pull off something like this, so don't think about it in terms of what will happen next year," Schultz said. "The planning needs to be four or five years out before you'll see something, and a lot can change in five years."

After the presentation, Alderman Joel Tilleson said he thought the city should move ahead with considering redevelopment possibilities, and avoid spending money on shorter term improvements to the building.

"I'm a huge supporter of this," Tilleson said. "The timing is right, the stars are aligned. I worry some of the investments we're currently considering equate to nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig. We could keep putting money in here and there, or start thinking for the next generation."