In past few weeks, a low-slung wooden structure has been going up on the north side of Commerce Street, where Vine Street intersects.
Is it a small cafe? A little convenience store? A yoga studio? A maintenance building of some kind?
No, it's the first segment of a three-story structure being built into the bluff behind it, and it is a rarity for Commerce Street's Beerline, which is lined with townhouses and multi-family residential complexes. It's a detached, single-family residence with a garage.
The home – designed by Milwaukee's Kindness Architecture – will belong to New Land Enterprises' own Tim Gokhman.
"I hope we are part of a trend of families staying in (or) moving to the city," Gokhman says.
It's an interesting use for a small and what looks like an otherwise difficult to develop plot along the ever-growing Commerce Street corridor, where another multi-family is under construction to the east, next to the Humboldt Avenue bridge.
It's also a great location – offering a nice view of Downtown from the top floor, I bet – with Wolf Peach just a short stair climb away and one of the city's best fish fries across the street.
Gokhman and fellow developer Jim Wiechmann are working with Kindness on another project nearby, the seven-story Rhythm development at 1632-1640 N. Water St., where Water Street curves up toward Brady Street.
Urban Milwaukee discusses the numbers involved in the project and has some architectural renderings here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
