By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
A deeply rooted building in the heart of Whitewater’s downtown is expected to be repurposed for a mixed-use development under recently unveiled plans.
Applicant Ilmi Shabani has submitted an application to city officials for the multi-tenant project within a currently vacant building at 136 W. Main St. GMA Printing, a longtime tenant, was the last occupant of the property.
Shabani’s plan to breathe new life into the building calls for a use not previously adopted at the site — a residential component, comprised of seven apartment units. The units, according to plans submitted, would offer one and two bedrooms, with the bulk offering up the one-bedroom scenario.
Also in the mix of Shabani’s proposal for the building, portions of which were constructed before 1890, is a coffee shop and office space for up to four tenants.
The refresh to the Main Street building went before members of the Plan and Architectural Review Commission on Sept. 9 and received a favorable vote.
Commissioners lauded the commercial components of the project, but concerns with the residential portion were raised.
Council member Lynn Binnie, who sits on the Plan and Architectural Review Commission, shared some of the previous concerns that have been raised with multi-family units within the city.
“There is definitely an oversupply of all kinds of multifamily and student-oriented housing at this point in time,” Binnie said.
He later added the city is in short supply of family-oriented housing.
Questions of whom the rental units were targeted toward also were raised during discussions.
In response to target renters, Pete Weston of Fort Atkinson-based Design Alliance Architects said, “I expect it will be a mix.”
Weston, who has been retained to handle the interior and exterior refresh, spoke on Shabani’s behalf at the meeting.
Binnie and others on the panel said the city currently has an abundance of student-oriented accommodations — a concerning issue, Binnie said, given recent declining enrollment at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus.
Several commissioners gave high praise for the coffee shop portion of the project.
“It’s a really ambitious project, and I’m happy that the building will be well used,” commissioner Sherry Stanek said. “I know it will look good.”
The office portion of the project, Weston said, will be geared toward “small-time office folks.”
Architecturally, Weston said a portion of the project will have a feature in the coffee shop space that offers flexibility in opening it up to the outdoors as weather conditions and temperatures permit.
“There will be that much more depth and texture when it’s open in the summertime,” Weston said of the architectural details.
Commissioner David Stone said he was pleased with the amount of detail furnished.
“I appreciate the detail that’s in these plans,” Stone said. “I think the plans are very complete.”
