Andante is a 5-story mixed-use development located at 100 N. Farwell Street, in the heart of downtown Eau Claire. The project includes 76 residential units, including: furnished studios, one-bedroom units, and two-bedroom units. The first floor of the building includes over 8,000 leasable square feet of commercial space.
Merge worked with the City of Eau Claire to refine the building’s relationship with its Southern edge along the Eau Claire River. The final building plans include a public riverfront promenade that connects to the public trail system. The approximately 200-foot promenade will include micro-retail storefronts, waterfront dining, and public grill space.
Andante is a musical term that means “a rhythmic walking pace”. The project site is a City Parking Lot that was formally declared excess land in early 2019. The site is within walking distance to employment centers including: JAMF, RCU Corporate Headquarters, Mayo Clinic, and downtown dining and entertainment venues. It is connected to the bus line, trail system, and approximately four blocks for the Eau Claire Transit Center. 100 N. Farwell Street was also identified as an undeveloped parcel suitable for residential development in the City of Eau Claire’s 2018 Housing Affordability Analysis.
The Common Place on Mike McCarthy Way is a 5-story mixed-use building on a former industrial site on the 600 Block of Mike McCarthy Way. The project is located in the Village of Ashwaubenon's Sports & Entertainment District, just blocks from Lambeau Field & Titletown amenities. It includes approximately 80 residential units and a recreational climbing gym.
In 2019, the Village of Ashwaubenon released an RFP for 6 acres in the community's Sports & Entertainment District. Merge was selected for its proposal for a phased mixed-use development that would begin to establish a Main Street destination for both residents and visitors within the district. The Common Place brand blends the past farm lands where the Green Bay Packers established a playing field with the present vision for an urban gathering place for sports, recreation, and society year-round.
The Marion Road District has always been a fulcrum point for the City of Oshkosh; its businesses and industry provided the very first electrical power to the First, Second, and Fifth Wards in 1885 (Oshkosh Electric Light & Power) and have literally and metaphorically served as cornerstones to Oshkosh’s built environment (Cook & Brown Lime Co.).
The 21st century vision for Marion Road maintains the area’s place as a fulcrum for energy and activity. Mackson Corners includes various residential unit sizes designed to serve a wide range of price points, including attainable micro units and waterfront walk-ups. The retail space is designed to include a waterfront restaurant, offices, micro space for entrepreneurs, and health/fitness use.
Urbane115 is a 5-story mixed-use building on the corner of N Appleton Street & E Washington Street in Appleton, Wisconsin. Located in the heart of downtown, residents, and shoppers will be closely connected to community events as well as the trail network, public transit, and Lawrence University. The project includes 56 residential units and roughly 6,600 SF of commercial space. The unit mix is a range of studio, 1 bedroom, and 2 bedroom units.
Appleton is considered the main hub of the Fox Cities and this site provides an ideal location for residents and commercial tenants. It sits just one block from College Ave - home of retail, restaurants, and popular events like Mile of Music and Oktoberfest, the transit station, public library, and more local businesses along Appleton St.
The North Side Yard site was formally known as the “Lullabye Furniture Site,” in reference to the furniture factory that was established at the site in the late 1800s. The furniture factory closed in the 1970s. Since then, the City of Stevens Point invested in removing contamination and making the vital site ready for redevelopment that would help position downtown Stevens Point as both a destination and a home for residents and visitors.
Today, the City of Stevens Point has a thriving creative economy of makers and young entrepreneurs. North Side Yard will feel like the walking in to next-generation Stevens Point – with rich spaces to gather, micro retail for startups / makers, and a dense housing mix that is sure to inspire lots of walking and biking activity.
North Side Yard includes three mixed-use buildings, totaling 213 residential units. The name “North Side Yard” and the stacked timber architectural elements pay homage to the community’s beginnings in the lumber industry.
The Development Team began working with the City & RDA of Oshkosh in Summer 2018 to imagine the redevelopment of its formerly industrial waterfront, the Marion Road Redevelopment Area. The Brio Building is the first building in Merge Urban Development Group’s Marion Road Redevelopment Plan.
Brio is a 5-story mixed-use building including over 10,000 square feet of tenant space and 60 market-rate residential units in the heart of downtown Oshkosh. The development site includes 117 surface parking stalls and it is located within walking distance to UW-O, Lake Winnebago, the city’s waterfront bike trail, and community entertainment assets.
The occupant of the commercial space is the Oshkosh Food Co-op. The Co-op is a member-owned grocery store that is fully operational. The next phase of the Marion Road Redevelopment Plan is Mackson Corners on the waterfront.
The site for Urbane424 is conveniently located in downtown Burlington only blocks from the Mississippi River with access to many local establishments. This 5+-story mixed-use building features 52 residential units, a combination of studio, 1 bedroom, and 2 bedroom units, along with over 3,100 square feet of commercial space. Two former buildings, including one owned by the City of Burlington, were purchased and demolished to make space for this beautiful new development. The project was awarded Iowa Economic Development Association's Workforce Housing Tax Credits and Iowa Brownfield/Grayfield Redevelopment Tax Credits.
Features of Urbane424 include a building front with an urban street space and also quieter urban green space for a variety of living options. A courtyard facing units also capture specific views of the Mississippi River and bridge. Public green space is created in the open courtyard concept and extends the pedestrian zones of the city and to stitch this project into the vibrant activity of downtown. Micro retail spaces provide frequent points of entry for pedestrian activity with the opportunity for new retail ventures to start-up in smaller footprints.
Located in the up-and-coming Lincoln Park neighborhood in Duluth, MN, Urbane218 is a 4-story mixed-use building on the site of the old Esmond Building (formerly the historic Seaway Hotel). This project will include 45 residential units including studio, 1-bedroom, and 2-bedrooms, and over 4,000 square feet of commercial space including micro-retail and retail spaces.
A mixed-use building at this location strengthens the edge of the W Superior St and stitches into the vibrant activity of the district. Merge is working with the city of Duluth to develop a beautiful, new, safe, and supportive place for residents at the Esmond site.
Alto Station is a residential housing development located above the newly constructed City Transit Center in the heart of downtown Eau Claire. The project includes 88 residential units, including: studios, one and two-bedroom units. The development team worked with the City of Eau Claire to conceptualize this public-private partnership that is in large part funded by a Federal TIGER Grant. The final building plans include a residential lobby, leasing office, bike storage, and a residential rooftop amenity.
Maintaining the musical theme for our Eau Claire properties, Alto is a range of pitches within musical harmony. Our team found the term fitting because the “hum” of transit traffic is part of the chorus of city noise. The team added “Station” because of the transit use on the ground floor. The definition of “Station” is a regular stopping place on a public transportation route, especially one on a railroad line with a platform and often one or more buildings.
Emera is the first new market-rate housing located in the Zone of Confluence near Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA. Grinnell, better known to locals as the 'Jewel of the Prairie', prides itself on having an active downtown and residents who strive for an excellent quality of life. This project will add new downtown residents and increase the overall activity in downtown Grinnell and support further growth of local business. The building will be open to all ages and is not limited individuals with student/faculty status.
Located on Main Street, the building will feature 4-stories containing a mix of studio, 1 bedroom, and 2 bedroom units, “micro” retail space for commercial tenants, and a large restaurant space. The project is the recipient of Iowa Economic Development Association's Workforce Housing Tax Incentive Program credits, a program to provide benefits for developers in Iowa cities focusing on "projects using abandoned, empty, or dilapidated properties". As a key site in the “Zone of Confluence” between Grinnell College and the City of Grinnell, the proposed development will provide new opportunities for interaction between students, faculty, staff, daytime workers, residents, and visitors.
