Envy Apartment

A 27- story apartment tower planned behind the Goll Mansion on Milwaukee’s East Side received the endorsement of the city’s Plan Commission Monday , despite neighbors’ continued objections. This slideshow requires JavaScript . The controversial $55 million project by Chris Houden, the Madison-based developer and the owner of the property, to move the 118-year-old mansion at 1150 N. Prospect Ave. toward the street to make room for the residential tower has been in the works for more than a year. “We are thankful for the commission’s review and the broad support we’ve received from the community,” Houden said after the meeting. “We share their perspective that the proposed development will be a great addition to the East Side neighborhood , and the city of Milwaukee.” The Plan Commission deadlocked with a 3-3 vote on the project in 2016. However, the project was praised by the panel Monday for its design and green features. After more than an hour of testimony, plan commission member...

future River Crest logo , and the space where the bar will open next year." /> The future River Crest logo , and the space where the bar will open next year. View Full Caption Logo Courtesy River Crest (inset); DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly ASTORIA — A pair of Lower East Side bar owners plan to open a craft beer spot named for a former sanitarium in a  Ditmars Boulevard storefront that's sat empty for the past six years. River Crest, named after a mental health facility that operated in the neighborhood decades ago , will open around February at 33-15 Ditmars Blvd., a large storefront formerly occupied by the  produce market Top Tomato . Co- owners Martin Whelan and Gerard Leary — who also own the Lower East Side bar One Mile House — say the new venture will specialize in quality and harder-to- find craft brews .  "It'll be very high- end craft beer that we’ll be pouring there," said Leary, who lives in Sunnyside. "It's not going to be break-your...

Juan Parras gives one hell of a tour of Houston’s east side. He’s charming and funny. Wearing a beret, he strikes an old-world look, like he might lead you to a cafe on a plaza. He doesn’t charge a fee for his services. After all, you’re on a “toxic tour,” and Parras is on a mission. Parras grew up in 1950s West Texas . He remembers segregated schools, the restaurants that wouldn’t serve him, the unpaved roads, and the people who lived closest to the local refinery . Those experiences led him to a career as a social justice advocate . The resident of Houston’s heavily industrial east side has worked in a city housing department , for a union, for a law clinic, and on a campaign that stopped a PVC factory from being built in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley.” For the last decade, he has served as executive director of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (better known as t.e.j.a.s.). Part of his work is leading tours past the heaping piles of scrap metal along Houston’s Buffalo Ba...

Photo: Contributed Photo / Akashic Books Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Stacey Lender Stacey Lender Photo: Contributed Photo / Akashic Books Excerpt from ‘City Mouse,’ by Stacey Lender Back to Gallery It was the bathroom that finally started us house hunting on the weekends up in Westchester. Sharon and Dave had just moved to Scarsdale from the city and I swear during brunch they slipped Aaron some suburban Kool-Aid with their day-old bagels. While the kids played on a giant plastic gym set in their cavernous empty living room , they proudly gave us a tour of their five-bedroom Colonial, closet by closet. Aaron seemed bored, as usual, but when we entered the en suite master bathroom , complete with double sinks and a rainfall shower, I heard him gasp. “A separate little room for the toilet!” he said, eyes glowing wide with bathroom envy. “You know,” Sharon said, “our builder is working on plans for the house next door.” “We’re not quite ready,” I replied. “But we can ta...

For a particular New Yorker, the sort who rues having missed out on the city’s cobblestone past, Colonnade Row is a distinct architectural marvel . The Greek Revival rowhouses were completed in 1833 and are known for their imposing Corinthian columns . But they were also a stage on which the birth of Manhattan’s gilded era played out, a period when no one dared host a ball the same night as Alva Vanderbilt, and the city itself didn’t extend much past Great Jones Street . Photo Credit New- York Historical Society , via Getty Images They were built for families like the Vanderbilts and the Astors — indeed, John Jacob Astor was among the first residents — and the group was originally named La Grange Terrace , after an estate of the Marquis de Lafayette . What remained of the facade was among the first structures protected by the Landmarks Preservation Commission . In the landscape of contemporary New York, however, Colonnade Row offers other quirks. While crusty old bars and last-of-...

CLEVELAND, Ohio - One of downtown Cleveland 's worst eyesores finally changed hands Monday , after years of court fights and false redevelopment starts . Alto Partners bought the long- vacant John Hartness Brown complex on Euclid Avenue for $9.1 million, in a deal that sprang from a messy foreclosure fight . The developer, a relative newcomer to the Cleveland real estate market , expects to fill the buildings with apartments, a hotel, retail and parking. Construction could start during the first few months of 2018. Stretching from 1001-1101 Euclid Ave., the John Hartness Brown complex spans three addresses and five facades on north side of the street. Thanks to troubled ownership, financial hurdles and lingering fallout from the Great Recession, the property has languished despite the surge in downtown living and the trend of turning historic buildings into housing and hotels. Alto will be the third developer in a decade to attempt a revival of the block. A rendering shows what ...

Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood continues to buzz with construction activity. Thanks to its proximity to the city’s central business district , top parks, cultural attractions, and multiple colleges, the area has been especially hot for new rental projects . South Loop hotel construction is also strong as the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority works to expand and transform McCormick Place into a new entertainment and hospitality hub dubbed ‘McCormick Square.’ Here is the latest look at eleven projects under-construction or newly completed in Chicago’s hot South Loop . ↑ One Grant Park Expected to rise well over 800 feet into the air, One Grant Park will be impossible to miss when when it creates a new peak at the south end of downtown Chicago’s skyline. Designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, the 76- story building broke ground in early 2017 and has been quickly climbing at the corner of Roosevelt and Indiana. The skyscraper will deliver 792 rental apartments . A second...