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Three Leaf Partners’ Tosa apartment project to begin later this year

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Three Leaf Partners’ Tosa apartment project to begin later this year

Construction will begin later this year on a $45 million project to bring 153 apartments to the site of St. Bernard Congregation, according to Three Leaf Partners.

Here’s what to know:

Latest design for Three Leaf Partners apartments in Wauwatosa Village gains key city approval

The Milwaukee development group Three Leaf Partners, which is under contract to purchase the church at 7474 Harwood Ave., got the green light from the Design Review Board at its meeting July 18.

Three Leaf Partners first submitted its plans for the three-story multi-family development in April to the City of Wauwatosa, weeks after parishioners learned St. Bernard would close to merge with its sister parish Christ King.

The first design fizzled at a Design Review Board meeting that month when the board declined Three Leaf’s design following a deluge of criticism from residents.

Prompted by that feedback, Three Leaf submitted a revised design, scaling back the number of apartment units from 163 to 153 and opening up the closed-up building to create more community space that would connect with the city-owned pocket park on the corner of the property.

The Design Review Board then approved the revised design at its mid-July meeting.

Now, the project requires a building permit and site approval, two steps that don’t need to go through the public meeting process, said Eva Ennamorato, the Wauwatosa communications manager.

What will the Three Leaf Partners apartment building at Harwood Avenue look like?

The majority of the 153 apartments will be one-bedroom units of various sizes. Here’s what Three Leaf plans:

  • Two studio units that are 550 square feet
  • 36 one-bedroom units that are 650 square feet
  • 62 one-bedroom units that are 750 to 850 square feet
  • 14 one-bedroom “plus a den” units that are 850 to 950 square feet
  • 37 two-bedroom units that are 1150 to 1250 square feet
  • Two three-bedroom units that are 1400+ square feet

There will be 193 residential parking spots in an underground lot beneath the apartment building and 23 parking spots for visitors in a northern lot.

Apartments at St. Bernard to be completed spring or summer 2026, developer says

Demolition and construction at the site of the St. Bernard Congregation church building will start in late 2024, said John Ford, chief development officer of Three Leaf Partners. He estimates the project will be complete in the spring or summer of 2026.

“We appreciate the collaboration and feedback throughout the approval process from the community, Wauwatosa Mayor McBride and staff, and St. Bernard’s parish,” Ford said.

More: Tosa Village business owners worry multiple housing proposals may be ‘too much, too soon’

Three Leaf’s apartment building is one of two discussed for the area

The former church serves as an “ideal location” for the multi-family project, Ford wrote in an email to a reporter.

It also has the support of the Village of Wauwatosa Business Improvement District. Chris Leffler, BID president, wrote a letter to the Design Review Board expressing the BID’s support of the project.

Separately, but nearby, another developer has been working for years on bringing a multi-family apartment project to a parking lot about a block south of the Three Leaf site.

Developer Mandel Group’s Harlow & Hem apartment proposal would bring 157 apartments to the Blanchard Street Parking lot in the Village.

Residents and businesses owners within the Village have expressed concern about the prospect of two apartment projects going on at once.

Mandel has gone through a series of public hearings and meetings as it seeks approval. In a July 16 meeting, the Common Council approved Mandel Group’s land combination, rezoning and preliminary planned unit development requests.

To fund the project, the Mandel Group has indicated to the city that it wants more than $9 million in TIF, or tax incremental financing, about half of which the group would want up front and the other half they’d want to be paid over about 18 years, according to Ennamorato.

Such TIF requests must go through the Financial Affairs Committee and Common Council, and dates for those meetings have not yet been scheduled.

“We currently remain in negotiations with the developer regarding this request, so the numbers are accurate but not final,” Ennamorato told the Journal Sentinel in July.

Bridget Fogarty covers Brookfield, Wauwatosa and Elm Grove for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be contacted at [email protected].

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