Waukesha YMCA pushes back housing plans
Waukesha - Timing of a proposed 62-apartment project for mobility-impaired residents on the Waukesha Family YMCA E. Broadway property has been pushed back another year, the Y's executive director, Chris Becker, said.
Developer CommonBond will not seek federal low income housing tax credits to help with financing this year after all because it is unlikely to get city approval of the project in advance of the early February deadline, he said.
The city's Plan Commission last month tabled the proposal, raising questions about architecture, storage and the conflict over a local landmark on the property. The apartments are intended to serve people suffering from multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and arthritis, for example, who could benefit from proximity to and programs of the Y.
City and Y officials are still wrestling over how the landmark, a former gas station built in 1929 to resemble a home will be handled. The city's Landmarks Commission gave it landmark status in July but the YMCA has appealed that ruling.
Efforts to relocate the small, Tudor-style building that in more recent years had been used as a fruit stand and used car lot are at a standstill. The Landmarks Commission has said federal historic landmark standards must still apply wherever the building is moved. Y officials dispute its historic value and say restoring the building for use as part of the housing project would cost $150,000 - nearly as much as its purchase price.
The city's Administrative Review Board, which encouraged the YMCA and Landmarks Commission to work on relocation, is scheduled to take up the Y's appeal again Jan. 17 at a 5 p.m. meeting.
Both sides have indicated the likelihood of an appeal, depending on the outcome.
