Over the summer, it has slowly been revealed Madison’s most iconic street—State Street—is due for a massive facelift. Development firm Core Campus Communities is spearheading the redevelopment of the 500 block including a large surface parking lot and the building that houses the Campus Inn and some of State Street’s most well-known restaurants.
The development totals about 500,000 square feet including retail spaces ranging from two to six stories fronting State Street and a setback 12-story apartment tower.
The project, in typical Madison fashion, is highly contentious, especially since this is playing with State Street. What is frustrating however, is how the numerous positive elements are utterly overwhelmed and undermined by the incredible plethora of negative elements being crammed together.
I don’t want to sound like a NIMBY (“Not In My Backyard” if you’re unfamiliar with the term—I use it a lot), but if there is an area in Madison that deserves to be treated like a sacred cow, it is the State Street/Capitol Square area. Developments that go up along this corridor need to be particularly well conceived and thoughtful; more so than in other areas. While the design is good when it comes to environmental and urban sustainability, like so many projects it lacks any unique or standout design Madison so desperately needs, and it’s at a scale that might be more appropriate for University Avenue and Johnson Street —but not for State Street.
The good is that the current large surface parking is being replaced. Not only is this going to fill a visual hole on State Street, it’s also long overdue infill that will provide more commercial space and is a more intense and wise use of land sitting right at the center of everything going on along State, downtown and on campus.
The parts of the development fronting State Street aren’t half bad either. The mixed heights of the buildings fit the hodgepodge character of a great urban street that has developed over time. The use of styles that range from simple traditional styles, modern steel and class and old-school industrialist brick and iron add a decent amount of character, playfulness and style.
While it’s too bad that a unique and characteristic piece of mid-century modern architecture will be lost to time, the State Street front at least does a relatively good job of making an effort to provide State Street with respectable buildings.
Honestly, if this was the basis for the entire project, I’d be cheering this 100%, but of course look up and you see the real core of the entire thing: the 12-story apartment tower.
Where do I begin?
How about this: We don’t need another wall a la Lucky in Madison, and even less so on State Street. The problem isn’t even the height, but the way the building creates a wall like that of University Square along Lake and University. It is unfortunate that the project doesn’t take advantage of the three different streets it fronts—Frances, State and Gilman—so the development could include not just buildings appropriately sized and appropriate to the location, but also architectural diversity and perhaps even a tower 12-14 floors. Had this been the approach—a smaller base and a theoretically thinner tower could build on its verticality and thus not make a massive wall in the sky.
Although increased density is necessary along the entire length of the Isthmus, especially in areas around Downtown and Campus, maxing out just because it’s possible isn’t the right method. Modest infill, which would be appropriate here, can go a long way, and would likely in this case be a smarter architectural move. Unfortunately Madison is only getting a mundane wall that achieves an important goal but at a serious cost. This development does little for the city’s character, offers an architecturally unfortunate tower, and achieves little with way too much. Less is more, as Mies van der Rohe would say; less is more.
