Tag Archives: Union Corners

Willy Street Blog @ “2”

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Neighborhood blog to continue hyper-focus

What do you give the neighborhood that has everything? Well certainly not another person with an opinion. When you start a blog, its like any good essay, pick a few central themes and nurture them with attribution and reasoned analysis. But it is no small challenge to write about by far the most engaged, opinionated, funky, and cool neighborhood in the nation.

Willy Street Blog was born in March 2012, in the midst of the recall drive, but soon turned away from state politics as plenty of great voices were already speaking to the issue. In a city that features stupendous local reporting from numerous outlets, why should anyone bother to read some random blog?

The key is to really not care.

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City and Developers Complete Union Corners Agreement

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Medical clinic, library branch and housing part of new development

Union Corners has been vacant for quite some time but the City sees its redevelopment as one of the crown jewels of resurrecting the Capitol East corridor. The red bricks (at right) from the French Battery Company plant will be incorporated into the new development.

Union Corners has been vacant for quite some time but the City sees its redevelopment as one of the crown jewels of resurrecting the Capitol East corridor. The red bricks (at right) from the French Battery Company plant will be incorporated into the new development.

The City of Madison and Gorman & Company of Oregon, Wisconsin have signed a Letter Of Intent to proceed with developing Union Corners. District Six Alder Marsha Rummel announced the successful negotiations with Gorman to purchase the City-owned property in an email to constituents. When completed the development will include a health clinic, Madison Library branch and 50-100 housing units.

Rummel, whose district includes the Union Corners property, will introduce a resolution approving the Union Corners Selection Committee’s recommendation of Gorman & Company as the developer and authorizing the City to execute a purchase agreement for the property in the sum of $1.  Continue reading →

Free Mulch and Compost Available from Union Corners

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Garden project ends to make way for expected development

Courtesy: http://deurbanization.com

Joe Mingle, leader of the Union Corners Garden project invites residents to take advantage of mulch and compost that will no longer be used for urban gardens at the Union Corners site. Joe writes that the huegelkultur beds installed by the Permaculture Guild did great despite the drought.

A good crop of lettuce was had in the Spring. But the extreme summer heat and drought took its tol and “working the raised beds on the cement slab was like gardening on some desolate moonscape.”  Continue reading →

Interview: Marsha Rummel – 6th District Alder

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Madison 6th District Alder Marsha A. Rummel

Marsha A. Rummel has been Alder of Madison’s 6th District since 2007, and in that time she has seen lots of change. Before being elected she had been active in the Marquette Neighborhood Association and was interested in such issues as urban planning and affordable housing and decided to run when Judy Olson retired after 12 years in office.

Rummel helped found the Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative 1989. The progressive-minded (left of center) store provides books and resources to social movements as well as textbooks to the University of Wisconsin. The co-op is also meant to be a salon for the issues of the time.

Recently, at the Willy Street fair (September 16), we took a few minutes to talk about some of the issues facing her district which has now expanded to nearly five square miles due to a recent redistricting. Its a fun and challenging time on the near East Side with redevelopment in several key areas like the Captiol East district and Union Corners taking center stage.

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Two Union Corners Proposals Now on ‘Short List’

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Gorman and Livesey plans lead the way

Plans from Livesey Co./Stone House Development along with Gorman & Associates are under final consideration for the Union Corners development.

The City of Madison Union Corners Committee held a public hearing Wednesday evening (Sept 12) on the four remaining proposals for development of the Union Corners site. The committee voted to “short list” two of the proposal from Livesey-Stone House Development and Gorman Associates.

The next step is for city staff to conduct a basic preliminary financial review of each proposal. Following that review the UCC will decide what the next steps will be.

Related: C.D. Smith / EUA Withdraws Union Corners Proposal

Related: Where the Sidewalk Ends

 

C.D. Smith / EUA Withdraw Union Corners Proposal

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The C.D. Smith Construction/Eppstein Uhen Architects proposal includes a plan for a grocery store. EUA also designed the Goodman Community Center.

In an email to City of Madison officials C.D. Smith Vice-President Mike Krolczyk said the firm was withdrawing their proposal for Union Corners due to “specific market conditions” and other opportunities they were pursuing.

C.D. Smith partnered with Eppstein Uhen Architects (EUA) on their proposal which included a grocery store as part of the retail component of the site, however the plan did not depart much from a 2004 plan that failed before ground was ever broken. EUA has history in the neighborhood as just over the hill to the east of Union Corners is the recently redesigned Goodman Community Center, which was an EUA project.

Union Corners had been dying a slow death for decades as businesses struggled to exist on that corner and Ray-O-Vac’s manufacturing plant faded away. In 2010 the city purchased the site for $3.57 million and issued an RFP in June. The remaining proposals vary in cost, topping out at $108 million with public assistance requests as much as $15 million, which the Mayor said may be difficult to provide.

With C.D. Smith / EUA dropping out only the team of Livesey / Stonehouse remains to present to the Union Corners Committee which will take place August 29. A public hearing on the four active proposals is on September 12, 2012 at 5 p.m at the Madison Senior Center.

Related: Where the Sidewalk Ends

Potential Union Corners Developers to Give Presentations

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Developers to take questions about proposals

Following a meeting on August 6 to score the five proposals for development of Union Corners, a second meeting will be held August 15. At this meeting the developers who have submitted proposals will be given 15 minutes each for a presentation and time will also be made for questions from the public.

The session will be held for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Goodman Community Center. The results of both meetings will be compiled and presented to the selection committee for consideration as the process moves forward.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

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Five proposals for Union Corners redevelopment revealed

Union Corners has been vacant for quite some time but the City sees its redevelopment as one of the crown jewels of resurrecting the Capitol East corridor. Many of the plans submitted for the site include using the bricks (left) from the French Battery Company plant that used to reside on a portion of the site.


Everyone wants Union Corners developed. Once the location of a Kohl’s food store and the French Battery Company plant, it has sat grass-covered and empty for years. Now five proposals have been submitted in response to the City’s recent Request For Proposal and the vetting process begins.

We have been down this road before, McGrath Associates had an approved plan with neighborhood support for mostly residential buildings in 2004 but the economic downturn derailed the project by 2007. Union Corners had been dying a slow death for decades as businesses struggled to exist on that corner and Ray-O-Vac’s manufacturing plant faded away. In 2010 the city purchased the site for $3.57 million and issued an RFP in June.

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