"There's the white building, Daddy!"
--An observation my preschool son made every time I drove him home from Kids Play daycare in the late 1980s.
Pyare Square is located at 4610 University Avenue.....
......across the street and up the hill from Hilldale.
The 14-story, 82,000-square-foot building opened in 1969, housing the central offices for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The department moved to GEF 2 in the early 1979.
Source: Wisconsin Blue Book 1970
The building has remained mostly empty since 2005, when Capital Indemnity moved its offices to Middleton.
I count 7 tenants listed on the building's current directory.
I was unable to ride the elevator to the 14th floor; I assume a key is needed. Actually, I was surprised when the automatic doors opened as I approached the building's main entrance.
Which is not the side facing University Avenue, now developing an unkempt appearance.
- 2008. Owner proposes turning building into condos, floors 4 through 14, with 3 floors of parking -- sort of like a mini Marina City -- with 24 rowhouse condominiums constructed to the north. Shorewood Hills officials give the plan a thumbs-down.
- 2010. An Illinois developer proposes razing the building and constructing 69 low-income apartment units. Another thumbs-down from village officials.
- 2013. Another wrecking-ball plan. Approval for an Oak Park Place proposal to construct 150 "continuum of care" units with first-floor retail expires, and as far as I can tell, the paperwork has never been resubmitted. (Incidentally, Shorewood Hill's Tax Incremental District #4 Project Plan, Pyare Area, adopted January 19, 2010, is found here.)
Bullet points source: Pyare Square site eyed for senior housing. (Capital Times,7/24/2013)
The most likely outcome.
Madison’s Pyare Square building is again facing a showdown with the wrecking ball.
My money is on the wrecking ball.
All photos by Retiring Guy
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