JLA Architects
The first phase of Yahara Commons is slated to include 96 high-end apartments with 30,000 square feet of retail, including a restaurant.
Despite Monona’s many charms, there’s one area where it clearly comes up short. The city of about 8,000 people has nothing that resembles a downtown or city center.
City officials are trying to change that. On July 24, Monona’s Community Development Authority approved an agreement with Galway Companies to redevelop the area along the Yahara River, just north of the Beltline. The 20-acre site is a triangle, bordered by Bridge Road, West Broadway and the river.
The $37 million project, dubbed Yahara Commons, has been in the works for years, but is expected to finally break ground soon.
“Locally, on the Monona level we don’t have anywhere that has a downtown, central business district feel, a gathering place with commercial uses you can walk to and recreate, like a traditional downtown,” says Sonja Reichertz, Monona’s city planner and economic development director.
But more importantly — from the perspective of Madison residents — the project could give people a reason to go to Monona. The proposed development, which is directly off the popular Lake Monona bicycle loop, includes plans for a half-acre park, riverfront promenade, restaurant and cafe.
“If you’re on the southern end, there’s absolutely nowhere to stop and get a bite to eat or a drink,” says Reichertz. “As far as a regional destination and a draw, we thought that was kind of exciting.”
Steve Doran, one of the founding partners of Galway, believes the development will be a big draw for both boaters and bikers.
“We definitely see this as a heavy bike path destination,” he says. “If you’re doing the Monona bike loop there’s nowhere to stop on this side of the lake, and we’re right in the middle of it.”
Some needed work for the project — the relocation of a Madison sewage district interceptor pipe — has already been putout to bid. Demolition of the phase one site, behind the existing Monona State Bank building, will be done by Dec. 1. Five buildings are currently on the site, including a Chase Bank and the Bridge Lounge, both of which will close. The Four Lakes Yacht Clubwill remain.
The first phase of the development calls for 96 high-end apartment units and 30,000 square feet of ground floor retail stretching along the river.
Doran says the apartments are geared toward affluent, active professionals.
“I definitely see an Epic crowd being in there,” he says. “People who want exclusive access to the river. There will be outdoor grilling stations, kayak storage.”
The ground floor retail will include a coffee shop and a restaurant. Doran declined to name the entities he’s been negotiating with.
“I hate to name restaurants to say what it will be like, but it would be one of the nicest restaurants in Monona by far,” he says. “Not high end but very good. It will interact very well with the river, with several boat slips for people to pull up and dock and eat.”
Phase one is scheduled to be completed in late 2018, with the restaurant opening that fall or the spring of 2019. Phase two will include another 160 housing units, either more apartments or housing for seniors, Doran says. And phase three is proposed to have a 30,000- to 60,000-square-foot office building.
The third phase is tentative for now, Reichertz says. “Phase three is a little bit of a wild card because it’s a three-story office building, so they really need to find that anchor office tenant that can be elusive.”
The city had earlier wanted a hotel to be part of the project, but that idea was nixed in favor of an office building. Reichertz says the hotel proposal could be revised if office tenants aren’t secured.
However, Doran is skeptical that a hotel would ever work on the site.
In September, the city will begin the design process for the half-acre park planned for the site.
The size of the park has shrunk to make way for other elements of the project, Reichertz says.
“We imagine it will include a path that will take the public down to the river and along the river, so people can walk along the water,” she says. “We expect some sort of public art.”
The city has agreed to spend $5.1 million on demolition and infrastructure work on the site. At the completion of phase one of the project, the developer qualifies for a $2 million grant from tax incremental financing. In addition, the developer will get the land for the first two phases of the project for a combined $2.
