Plans for a 12-story, 197-unit condominium on the 300 block of North Bassett Street emerged in detail Wednesday night at the Doubletree Hotel, 525 W. Johnson St.
The building will replace Casa Bianca, 333 N. Bassett St. and Milio's Sandwiches, 454 W. Johnson St., as well as a four-story house. Fimi Elmazi, who owns Casa Bianca, said he was ""OK"" with the idea of losing his business to the condominium.
Elmazi did not say whether he would try to reserve a spot on the first floor of the new building for his restaurant.
According to tentative designs, the condominium will house approximately 300 people. Two-bedroom apartments account for 65 percent of the 197 units, one-bedroom-apartments take up 27 percent and efficiencies take up a mere 5 percent.
Architect Gary Brink went through numerous blueprints for the small crowd of citizens and students. He said the first two stories of the tower would be reserved for commercial use.
According to Brink, the first story would be perfect for any business looking to make money. He went on to say a health club would take up a majority of the second floor, ""making it an ideal place for both students and non-students.""
The issue of non-students living close to campus was a theme throughout the meeting, and Brink was quick to correct anyone who referred to his complex as ""student apartments."" He said the target demographic for the condos was young people, but not necessarily students.
The debate over the condos heated up when citizens expressed concerns about the growing number of high-rise apartments going up on Johnson and Gorham Streets. Brink's condominiums would be the fourth high rise in the immediate area. La Ciel, The Embassy Apartments and The Aberdeen currently house hundreds of UW-Madison students.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, rejected criticism of the high rises.
""Personally, we [the city council] appropriately decided that this area is where tall buildings would fit best,"" Verveer said.
But one man who currently lives across the street from Casa Bianca countered that he could ""kiss goodbye to any amount of sunlight coming in from the northwest.""
Brink did not say how much it would cost to build the 12-story structure, or how much condos in the building would cost. He said ground breaking is intended for Spring 2007, with the grand opening set for August 2008.
