Site for 601 Lofts cleans up well

601 Lofts gets a post-tension concrete deck on level one. Photos courtesy of Beyer Construction

A building is only as good as the ground beneath it.

And no building will sit well on ground filled with buried foundations, buried tanks, foundry sand and a variety of other discarded or forgotten materials. Those are basic facts that Beyer Construction confronted early in the process of building 601 Lofts on East Ogden Avenue in Milwaukee’s East Pointe neighborhood.

When complete, the 10-story, mixed-use structure will feature 8,500 square feet of commercial and retail space on the ground floor and 79 residential units — ranging from 950 square feet to nearly 3,800 square feet — on floors three through 10. Plans also include parking in an underground level and on the second floor.

But before Beyer could worry about the finished product, it had to deal with the site.

“I guess I’ll always remember the soils,” said Tom Smith, Beyer’s vice president and director of construction. “As we started excavation for the foundation, we ran into everything on the site. From day one, we were dealing with the soil issue, and that’s the biggest challenge so far.”

It was a challenge that Beyer and project developer KeyBridge Group Inc., Waukesha, tackled shortly after construction began in August. Working with the state Department of Natural Resources, the project team got the site cleaned up and began a steady climb to the top of the building.

“There’s nothing that time and money don’t take care of,” said Scott Fergus, president of KeyBridge. “The underground work has the biggest potential for surprise. To remedy it is actually very predictable, and it was generally very good working with the DNR.”

The columns on level two of 601 Lofts are formed and ready to support the third-floor deck. Photos courtesy of Beyer Construction

Cold weather threw another challenge at Beyer as the contractor spent the winter laying the foundation and building the concrete walls for the first two floors. But as the project heads toward May, Smith said the skeleton of the building should be nearing completion with work focusing on the third level’s exterior metal studs and the lower level’s mechanical systems.

“I think, overall, I’m pleased,” he said. “I wish we were further ahead of schedule, but progress will accelerate. We’re looking forward to spring.”

Fergus said he’s happy with the schedule and anticipating a completed project that will add a twist to the traditional designs of similar residential buildings. 601 Lofts, he said, will feature varied roof lines and two corners made entirely of glass.

“After we made it through the delays, progress has been very good, and it’s timed out well for us in the market,” he said. “It’s going to be a building that will change the landscape of the East Pointe neighborhood.

“The key to construction is making sure the design works. It does.”

- Chris Thompson

Copyright © 2006 The Daily Reporter Publishing Co.