HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Kenosha's Uptown Brass
development honors its past

Plans for the Uptown Brass Center feature 100,000 square feet of retail development anchored by a 50,000-square-foot grocery store. Rendering courtesy of Professional Realty and Development Corp.

By Rebecca R. Konya

Although the demolition of the century-old American Brass factory in 2002 marked the end of an era in Kenosha, the site at 60th Street and 14th Avenue will be a permanent reminder of the city's industrial past.

When construction for a mixed-use development commences on the 29-acre site this spring, Professional Realty and Development Corp., a Middleton-based firm that specializes in urban infill projects, intends to preserve that history in the project's design. Greg Hartmann, a development specialist with PRDC, said the architecture of the Uptown Brass Center will reflect Kenosha's industrial fabric, though in a fresh, contemporary style.

"The Brass site is 113 years old," he said. "That kind of history stays with a site."

Hartmann added that the development will fit the moderate-income character of the neighborhood.

"It will create a real synergy in the area," he said.

As manufacturers continue to pull up stakes in Kenosha, redevelopment has become a common theme. After the American Brass closed, the city commissioned a study by the Urban Land Institute to help determine development possibilities for the site.

When the study was completed in June 2002, the city solicited bids from developers to transform the former manufacturing site. One of two developers to bid on the project, PRDC was awarded the contract last year.

"Our development will greatly increase the appeal of living in the surrounding neighborhoods," said Hartmann. "It will foster a strong and positive sense of community."

The design of the Uptown Brass Center reserves one acre for recreational green space. Named the Uptown Green, the common area will include a water fountain. Rendering courtesy of Professional Realty and Development Corp.

Kay Forgianni, director of development for the city of Kenosha, said the former Brass site is nearing the end of remediation. Con-struction on the first 16 acres is scheduled to begin in August.

The three-block area will include 120,000 square feet of retail space, including a 50,000-square-foot grocery store. Hartmann said the grocery store is expected to be open by 2005.

"We're in close negotiations with a major grocer in the Wisconsin area," he said.

The 16-acre development project also will feature a residential component, with a mix of owner-occupied and rental units located above the retail space. Of those units, at least 70 have been designated for senior living, said Hartmann.

"Basically, we're creating a neighborhood," he said.

In addition to the 200 residential units that PRDC will develop, the second half of the former Brass site is slated strictly for residential development, said Forgianni.

"That half of the site has not been soli-cited for development yet," he said.