New possible student housing on Mifflin Street proposed in the Downtown Plan continued to be a topic of debate among City Council members at the Plan Commission meeting Monday.
The proposed concept for Mifflin Street involves the demolishion of some existing structures in order to build new student housing, which may include high-rise apartments.
Urban Design Commission member Richard Wagner said he would like to see more of a focus on ingenuity and ""an integration of … cooperative housing"" in regard to the reconstruction plans of Mifflin Street.
Ald. Brian Solomon, District 10, said he was pleased with the level of urbanism the committee proposed for the Mifflin Street area and felt it was ""very important that we embrace change in the downtown area.""
Susan Schmitz, president of Downtown Madison Inc. said she was enthusiastic about the project.
""We're ready to move forward,"" Schmitz said. ""We want to have a place where people live, work, recreate and learn.""
Schmitz said the goal was to revamp the Madison downtown and create a ""gathering place for the city and its visitors.""
Ald. Julia Kerr, District 13, said she felt the Downtown Plan needs ""more work on West Washington"" and hoped to see designers ""thinking bigger.""
Kerr also said she felt the West Washington area ""can support higher density and still preserve the things that are important to the city of Madison.""
Wagner had positive comments about the plans and said there were ""many good things"" about the plan.
""It's a negotiation to find which public goals are going to be met; we have to think about the process for the future,"" Wagner said.
