Alterra Café Plan Wins Council Support

Alterra Coffee Roasters’ preliminary café plan for North 68th Street and West Wells Street received nearly unanimous support from the Common Council Tuesday.

Casting the lone vote against the preliminary plan was Alderwoman Linda Nikcevich, citing concern that Alterra’s request for $220,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funding was not noted when the project was discussed and Oct. 11. The day after the meeting, the Wauwatosa Economic Development Commission approved 45 percent of Alterra’s CDBG funding request -- $99,000.

Nikcevich said the “general proposal is very good,” but said the Community Development Committee, of which she is a member, should have been apprised of the fact that Alterra was seeking a portion of the city’s federal CDBG funds.

The issue before the Common Council Tuesday, however, was land use, said Mayor Jill Didier, not the type or source of funding for the project.

Alderman Dennis McBride, who represents the district Alterra would move into, urged the council to support Alterra’s preliminary plan. He said parking, traffic, stormwater and fencing issues will be addressed in the final plan, with city staff oversight and approval required.

Referring to concerns he has heard from district residents that an Alterra Café would threaten small local businesses in the ‘s business district, McBride said, “This isn’t about picking winners and losers in business competition. We’re here to decide land use.”

Alterra’s preliminary plan for its café proposal at 6745 W. Wells St. then was swiftly approved.

The Common Council also agreed unanimously to allow encroachment on the public right-of-way for outdoor seating and bicycle parking on West Wells Street between the sidewalk and the café.

Alterra’s development partner Sean Phelan, of Phelan Development, LLC, said after the council meeting that the CDBG funding would be used to assist with site acquisition. Phelan has an accepted option to purchase the site, pending city approval for the project. Alterra ultimately will own the property, he said.

CDBG funding applicants must meet eligibility requirements that include eliminating blight and creating jobs for low- to moderate-income workers. Alterra plans to buy the property and demolish a 4,600-square-foot medical clinic building, built in 1958, that has been vacant and idle for nearly a decade. that would create 15 full-time-equivalent positions.

The current property owner, developer William Ibach, bought the site in 2003 for $375,000. His plans to develop a $2.5 million eight-unit townhouse condominium project fell through due to the recession. The property currently is valued at $325,000, according to city assessment records.

Phelan said he expects to request approval for final plans for the Alterra Café project before the close of this year. If approved, Alterra has said construction could begin in spring 2012, with completion possible by late October 2012.