New projects proposed for downtown Eau Claire
Oct. 17—EAU CLAIRE — New proposals to build apartments and commercial space have come forward for two prominent downtown Eau Claire lots.
On Wednesday the city's Redevelopment Authority will hear about the latest ideas from private developers, which would fill in two remaining parcels along North Barstow Street in an area that has seen considerable growth in recent years.
A project proposed by developer Geoff Moeding would take a block currently used for surface parking — also known as Block 7 — and create a large apartment building plus another building with commercial space.
"It will definitely give some nice density to that space, assuming it goes forward," said Aaron White, the city's economic development manager.
Still in the early planning stages, the apartment building is currently anticipated to be four stories tall and have over 100 apartments. The units there would be a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.
The neighboring building would have two stories of space for commercial tenants.
Parking for the two buildings would be provided through a mix of underground parking, some surface stalls and using the neighboring city-owned ramp.
"We have adequate parking in the ramp to accommodate these projects that are coming in," White said of the North Barstow Street parking structure that currently serves existing businesses in downtown Eau Claire.
Moeding is experienced at building in the North Barstow area as he was the first developer to make new apartments and storefronts there over a decade ago. Between 2009 and 2011, he opened buildings there with a total of 93 apartments.
This also isn't his first time pitching a concept for Block 7. In 2016 he had proposed a trio of buildings containing 130 apartments and some ground-floor storefronts. That project did not move forward due to cost projections showing it would require $2 million from the city to be financially feasible.
In prior years, other developers have also pitched ideas for offices, apartments and shops on Block 7, but those previous proposals did not get past the planning stages because of cost issues.
Nearby along North Barstow Street at a smaller lot next to the future home of the Children's Museum of Eau Claire, another developer has its sights set on building apartments and storefronts. Iowa-based Merge Urban Development Group submitted a proposal for a five-story building with ground-floor commercial space and about 50 apartments above, White said. That is a preliminary version of Merge's plan and figures are subject to change should it advance to the design stage.
Previously, Hudson-based Monarch Ventures had been negotiating to put a building with a restaurant and offices on the vacant lot, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed those plans. After 18 months of talks that held the land for the project for Monarch Ventures, the RDA Board decided in May to open the property up to other proposals.
Merge is no stranger to developing in downtown Eau Claire as it is in the midst of erecting a larger five-story apartment and storefront building called Andante on what used to be the city's Railroad Street parking lot along the Eau Claire River.
During Wednesday morning's meeting, the Redevelopment Authority Board will vote on starting talks with Moeding and Merge on their new proposals. That would give the two developers exclusive rights for 90 days to negotiate on the RDA-owned land. Following those talks, the projects could then proceed deeper into planning and move toward signing a developers agreement to buy and build on the land.
