A project approved by the Oak Creek Planning Commission last fall features one three-story and one four-story apartment building on either side of Main Street in Drexel Town Square (DTS). The two buildings will include 64 apartments above retail stores and restaurants along Main Street. That street would extend south of East Drexel Avenue and lead to a main public square in the 85-acre development.
WiRED Properties and Phelan Development, both based in Milwaukee, will develop the main street buildings. Blair Williams, president of WiRED Properties, said construction of the luxury apartments will start in spring.
“We started with the notion we are creating a sort of downtown environment,” Williams said. “One of the things that makes a neighborhood walkable is you have multiple destinations available to you by foot, so you can park once.”
“We believe these apartments will be unique in Oak Creek – bringing beautiful urban apartments that not only boast impressive features and finishes, but also have incredible retailers and urban amenities right downstairs,” Williams said.
Main Street apartment tenants will enter their heated underground parking lot through a ramped entrance that is only accessible with a garage door opener. There are 96 stalls in total for tenants. That leaves a total of 364 spaces available to visitor parking around the town square.
A second apartment complex within DTS is the 167-unit Emerald Row apartments, which was approved in late January by the plan commissioners. The commissioners applauded the "urban and pedestrian feel" of the apartment complex, which will be located on the western side of the DTS site at 601 S. 6th St. The "H-shaped" development will include 110 one-bedroom apartments, 31 two-bedroom and 26 three-bedroom units.
Barrett Visionary Development LLC is the developer of Emerald Row Apartments. The building's design, by Rinka Chung Architects, has four wings.
Emerald Row will include a swimming pool between the building’s northwest and southwest wings, and a nearby outdoor natural seating area overlooking a public wetland park. A courtyard will link the northeast and southeast wings.
The complex includes 149 underground parking spaces and 65 surface lot parking spaces. The building also will have about 1,800 square feet of street-level commercial space.
“Residents are already asking when these units will be available to lease,” said Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi, noting the value of the residential options within the mixed-use DTS development. "We're seeing a tremendous interest in the development, including people who want to enjoy the benefits of living in our exciting new downtown," Scaffidi said.
WISPARK LLC, the real estate development subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corporation is the master developer for this site. The property is owned by One West Drexel LLC, which is a public/private partnership of the City and the developer designed to oversee the development of the property. Other entities that are part of the development team include Zilber Property Group, ENVIRON Consulting, GRAEF Engineering, Rinka Chung Architects, KM Construction Management and MidAmerica Real Estate Group.