Mandel Plans to Break Ground on 6-Story Oakland Avenue Development This Month

Milwaukee-area developer Mandel Group announced Wednesday it plans to break ground this month on its six-story structure slated for North Oakland Avenue.

Mandel also announced Wednesday, in a statement, it has closed on the financing related to the development coined LightHorse 4041.

The to be built in the parking lot, 4027 N. Oakland Ave., includes 84 apartments, a 18,000 square foot Walgreens retail store and a two-story parking structure behind the grocery store; creating 204 parking stalls.

will move across East Kenmore Place from its current location at 4081 N. Oakland Ave. into the new structure.

Seventeen apartments, or 20 percent of the development, have been identified as affordable housing units. The remaining units will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

Shorewood has agreed to provide Mandel with a $4.12 million grant to be recovered through property taxes generated from the development and a $3.54 loan with revenue generated through rent.

The village will incur another $1 million in fees and other costs. Shorewood will also finance an additional parking level for $1 million out of its special tax district No. 1 and funds from its parking fund.

Mandel says the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority completed the sale of $54.6 million of tax-exempt Midwest Disaster Area Bonds to private investors, as part of financing the LightHorse and another development in downtown Milwaukee.

In conjunction with new development on the Oakland block, the village has pledged to , with a $350,000 package: a $150,000 business incentive loan and $200,000 grant.

The remodel will include a lot of minor changes, moving of aisles, replacing equipment and redoing floors.

LightHorse will be built by Pewaukee-based VJS Construction Services Inc. and was designed by Engberg Anderson Design Partnership.

by developer WiRED Properties on Oakland Avenue. The Ravenna, being erected in the vacant lot at 4533 N. Oakland Ave. across from the , includes 22 apartments and 7,500 feet of retail space.

have been announced for the storefronts including Yo Mama, a frozen yogurt shop in Wauwatosa with plans of opening another location in Brookfield; Indulgence Chocolatiers, a Waukesha-based artisan chocolate wholesaler opening its first store; Elements East, which specializes in art, furniture and other accessories from Asia; and Performance Running, which will move from its temporary space in Shorewood at 4401 N. Oakland Ave.