Parking in Tosa Village is about to get a bit tighter.
The Mandel Group, which is planning to build 157 market-rate apartments on the site of the city's 101-stall Blanchard Street parking lots, has informed neighboring properties that it will close those lots starting Oct. 1 in preparation for construction to begin.
The development, known as Harlow & Hem, eventually will include 94 stalls of public parking, when it is scheduled for completion in summer 2027. Until then, Mandel Group is directing the public to the remaining free parking options available in the village.
Phillip Aiello, Mandel Group's president and chief operating officer, provided a brief update on the project Sep. 11 to the Wauwatosa Community Development Authority, saying the start of work at the site "may be as soon as Oct. 1," including demolition of adjacent private residences that were purchased to make way for the new construction. Mandel Group also is working with We Energies to facilitate utility relocation.
As of that meeting, final site acquisitions were still pending, though Aiello expected them to be completed by this week to keep the project on tract for an Oct. 1 start.
Harlow & Hem will include apartments ranging from studios to three-bedroom units "thoughtfully designed to meet the needs of today's active urban suburban residents," Mandel Group says in its description of the project. "Our vision is to breathe new life into an underused site while honoring the charm and character that make Wauwatosa so special."
Wauwatosa identifies eight public parking lots and garages on its website, totaling 624 parking stalls. The temporary loss of the 101 stalls of the Blanchard Street lots represents a reduction of 16% during construction.
The Harlow & Hem project first received city approval in 2021 as an 89-unit development, in response to a call for proposals from the Community Development Authority.
In February 2025, the City of Wauwatosa authorized a "planned unit development" on the city-owned parking lot site based on an expanded Harlow & Hem project plan, approved in a 10-4 vote by the Common Council.
Supporting documents can be accessed here.
Mandel Group said it will build a five-story building that will replace the existing public parking with nearly the same number of public stalls through a combination of underground parking accessed from Wauwatosa Avenue and a surface lot accessed from Harwood Avenue. Those public stalls will be in addition to the 188 private stalls planned for the apartments' residents.
