Tosa Tower Plans Pass Review Board After Neighbor Group Pushes Back

WAUWATOSA, WI — Plans for a 28-story apartment tower in Wauwatosa will continue after passing the city's design review board, despite the wishes of opposing neighbors.

The board voted 4-1 on Thursday to allow development of Drew Tower to continue, with one member not casting a vote. John Vassallo, the owner of Mo's Irish Pub, is head of the tower project.

"Last night, the design review board did not discuss any of the information that we have been writing to them about for the last several weeks," Melissa Post, who organized a fundraiser for a neighbor group called Underwood Neighbors United, said. The group would go to the Wauwatosa Board of Zoning Appeals next, she added.

The group said that the tower would bring down property value prices and the board would have to require the proposal "to be reduced in height and size to be more compatible with neighboring properties," according to an appeal filed Jan. 28.

The tower was "totally incompatible" with surrounding houses and buildings, Joseph Cincotta, a spokesperson for the group said in a letter.

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