County closes on transit center sale

Milwaukee County closed the deal Monday to sell the Downtown Transit Center to developer Rick Barrett for construction of the $122 million Couture apartment high-rise, County Executive Chris Abele said.

The county sold the 2.2-acre transit center at 909 E. Michigan St. to Barrett Lo Visionary Development LLC at a discounted sale price of $500,000.

The project will create more than 2,000 jobs, with an emphasis on hiring county residents and disadvantaged businesses, Abele said. Barrett has pledged $100,000 to an apprenticeship training program managed by Employ Milwaukee.

Construction of the 44-story tower will take 30 months or more to complete, and the tower will include 302 high-end apartments, restaurant and retail space.

Transit service will be included with plans for a pedestrian walkway, traditional bus service, a stop for the proposed county Bus Rapid Transit line, bicycles and the city streetcar.

The Couture development will add millions of dollars in new property tax base to support city and county services, and add a signature building to Milwaukee's skyline, Barrett said Monday.

County officials had to clear a few hurdles on the way to the sale after the County Board in December 2014 agreed to sell the property to Barrett.

Preserve Our Parks claimed part of the property was located on filled lake bed, barring it from private development. In June 2015, a judge ruled the lake bed boundary was east of the entire transit center so one obstacle was down.

But federal approval was needed since a 1988 federal grant helped finance the transit center.

In April, the Federal Transit Administration said it would not require the county to pay the agency the difference between the property's appraised value of $8.9 million and its discounted sale price of $500,000.

Milwaukee County Transit System bus routes previously serving the center had been rerouted Sunday in advance of the sale.