Plans to Rebuild Fire-Damaged Apartments Put on Hold

Preliminary plans to construct a new, 30-unit apartment building at 212 W. North St. in place of one that caught fire earlier this year were placed on hold to allow the builder to make changes to the plans.

City staff and members of the Plan Commission had concerns about the grading, architecture and landscape design. The builder will make the changes and the plans will return before the Plan Commission in two weeks, said Jeff Marlow, president of Green Bay-based Lexington Homes.

“We want to be a good neighbor,” Marlow said. “We want to be able to put a good building in place. Obviously, we want to get rid of the eyesore.”

The apartment building has been vacant since Jan. 15, when a mattress fire caused by a candle ripped through the building and killed at least one cat. Although no one was seriously injured in the fire, the Waukesha Fire Department rescued seven people who were trapped in the building.

The new 11,751-square-foot apartment building will have three floors, according to documents filed at City Hall. Despite changes being requested for the plans, the alderman for the area was in favor of the project.

“When I first saw this design, I liked it a lot,” said Alderman Eric Payne, urging the commissioners to accept the preliminary plans. “I liked the building a lot.”