A 13-acre vacant parcel at Lake Drive and Packard Avenue in St. Francis is at the center of a dispute over how the lakefront should be redeveloped. The current proposal calls for two six-story apartment buildings with about 300 residential units and retail space, while residents have raised concerns about building height, density, traffic and the effect on views from the surrounding neighborhood.
Cream City Real Estate Investments is leading the proposed development, according to WISN, which reported on renderings circulating among residents. Lisa Soria, owner of La Finca Coffee, told the station she questioned whether larger-scale or chain businesses would benefit the community and said the project could alter the lakefront setting she has come to rely on.
Fellow resident Marty Suchorski told the same outlet that St. Francis does not need more apartments. Residents have voiced that concern as multifamily development has expanded along the lakefront corridor; WISN reported that more than 1,000 apartment units have been added in the city over the past decade.
A City-Owned Lot With a Long History
The Triangle's path to controversy began with plans to redevelop the parcel. The city has been involved in planning the site's redevelopment. The plan has shifted considerably since then. An initial proposal from the KGI Construction Group affiliate called for seven buildings across the site, including a 13-story mass-timber apartment tower with 170 units and a separate five-story building with 130 units, according to Urban Milwaukee.
How the financing fits into the debate
The city's broader financing framework predates the current proposal. According to the City of St. Francis' annual TID No. 5 report prepared by Ehlers, the tax-incremental district was created on July 21, 2015, as a mixed-use district. The report says the district was formed in part to allow incentives for multifamily residential projects that would not have been eligible costs under the former TID No. 3. That history explains the financing mechanism, but the cited material does not specify what obligations would remain if the Triangle proposal changes or fails. A separate Milwaukee example shows that these disputes are not unique to St. Francis, though the projects are not identical. On May 31, 2023, the Milwaukee Common Council approved a 25-story, 318-unit apartment development on the city's East Side after residents raised concerns about height and density, The Daily Reporter reported. That project involved Milwaukee and a zoning change to a Detailed Planned Development, unlike the St. Francis Triangle proposal described here.
The current proposal consists of two six-story apartment buildings and includes commercial space, while residents say the retail-district promise undercuts the direction of the current proposal.
Petition Drive and Zoning Arguments
Community for the Triangle, a grassroots opposition group, has gathered more than 477 signatures on a petition calling on the St. Francis Common Council to halt high-rise construction on the parcel, according to Citizen Portal. At public meetings, residents have also voiced concerns about the proposal, the same outlet reported.
The city's financing commitments are another point of contention. Community for the Triangle, citing an August 2025 municipal finance report from Ehlers, says St. Francis had committed roughly $25 million plus interest in developer incentives tied to the 3700 S. Lake Drive project. That reported tax-incremental financing exposure has led residents to question whether the city has a strong financial interest in advancing the development, even as the proposal changes.
Neighborhood Already Reshaped by New Construction
The Triangle would not be the first large apartment complex to land on this stretch of South Lake Drive. The 42 Hundred on the Lake complex, completed directly south of the site in 2021, added 236 apartment units to the immediate area, according to Urban Milwaukee. Residents cite that project, among others, when describing cumulative traffic and density concerns. The Triangle proposal would add about 300 residential units, according to the second source.
Residents at recent public meetings have pushed for low-rise commercial development and neighborhood stability rather than dense rental housing.
What Comes Next
The Triangle proposal had not been approved or rejected as of the source's publication, according to the City of St. Francis. WISN reported that a separate public-comment meeting was scheduled for the following month.
The St. Francis mayor told the station that development of the long-vacant lot is overdue, and cautioned that even if approved, the project would take years to build. For residents like Soria and Suchorski, that timeline offers little comfort — their objections are rooted less in how long construction might take and more in what the finished buildings would mean for the views, traffic, and character of a lakefront neighborhood that has already absorbed a decade of new apartments.
