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...

See more of the story When Lee Stotts was born in 1968, his parents took him to the cleaners. They brought their newborn straight from the hospital to Edina Cleaners , the family’s longtime business in Edina’s Morningside neighborhood, before they even took him home. “This was my playground,” Stotts, now 49, said. “This is where I spent my entire life. I’ve lived and breathed this company, this location, my entire life.” But now Stotts, in the wake of his father’s death last year and facing slower business , has decided to sell the building to a developer who wants to build a five-story mixed-use structure there. The plans are creating tension in the peaceful neighborhood, where neighbors are wary of the project’s height and density and worry it could set a precedent for more such development at 44th Street and France Avenue. Bob Kearney, who moved to Morningside 30 years ago , said he realizes that “it’s not going to be 1950s Morningside here forever.” “But everybody is also aware tha...

Palo Alto Jane Huang, 29 Huang moved to Palo Alto with her parents at the age of four. She attended local high schools and Stanford University. Yet despite her hard work, the Palo Alto housing market is too challenging for her to foresee a future in her hometown. “I went to Stanford, I work as a software developer, I make a six-figure income, and I still have to live with three roommates,” Huang said. “What more can I do?” Huang isn’t worried about not being able to pay her rent, but she is worried about doing anything that might upset her landlord. “Landlords have a lot more power here than they used to,” she said. “They know how impossible it would be for their renters to find anything else locally.” While her concerns for herself are real and serious — “With the current housing market , I’m afraid I’ll have to live with roommates for the rest of my life” — she’s equally concerned about what the housing market means for the many Palo Altans who weren’t fortunate enough t...