Depending on which news sources you follow, Milwaukee is going through either a “renaissance” or a “reinvention.” Or maybe it’s a “reboot” or a “reimagining,” like that crappy Tim Burton version of Planet Of The Apes. However you want to define it, it’s safe to say that Milwaukee is currently building a lot of new shit.
• If you’re like so many other Milwaukeeans who profess to love public transportation but never take the bus because it’s kinda icky, you’re excited for the streetcar. Yes, the 2.5-mile downtown bus-on-rails system is set to be up and running by this fall, changing the face of Milwaukee as we know it. (And, yes, it’s still called “The Hop.”) But what then? Well, an extension to the lakefront is set to begin in 2019, and, pending federal funding, an extension from the Milwaukee Intermodal Station to the new Milwaukee Bucks arena will happen, too. But what then?
More extensions! Last week, the City of Milwaukee released renderings of how the streetcar might someday connect to Walker’s Point and Bronzeville. According to Urban Milwaukee:
In Walker’s Point, the renderings depict empty lots on a traffic-calmed S. 1st St. being developed into mid-rise buildings and continued activation of S. 2nd St. following the street’s 2010 narrowing. A greenway, a street that encourages cycling over high-speed driving, is proposed for Washington St. that would better connect Walker’s Point and the Harbor District to neighborhoods to the west for cyclists. A similar proposal, sometimes called a bike boulevard, is in the works for Riverwest.
A rendering for Bronzeville depicts N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. receiving new development in context with existing buildings on the street. Traffic calming, green-painted bike lanes and medians are all depicted.
There’s a website for the Walker’s Point and Bronzeville efforts, MovingMKEForward.com. There’s also a website for the Milwaukee County Transit System, RideMCTS.com. [Urban Milwaukee]
• A big-time development is reportedly in the works for the former site of the Horny Goat Hideaway. The owner of the site, the Michels company, is planning a development “centered around an office complex, but the site may include a small hotel and other commercial space.” [Urban Milwaukee]
• A 2.66-acre chunk of downtown—formerly occupied by Lake Interchange ramps, and once eyed by Johnson Controls, Amazon, and Foxconn—is up for sale. The land at Clybourn Street and Lincoln Memorial Drive has been appraised at $11 million to $12 million. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Speaking of the streetcar and empty downtown lots, a long-vacant one-acre lot at 431 N. 5th St.—across the street from the Intermodal Station—is also up for sale. [Urban Milwaukee]
• The new Bucks arena is fast approaching the 100-percent-complete stage. So what’s left to do? And when will construction crews pack things up? The senior project manager from Mortenson Construction has answers. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Ground was broken on Five Fifty Ultra Lofts, the $25 million, six-story, 112-apartment arena district apartment project located at 550 W. Juneau Ave. [Urban Milwaukee]
• That new-ish building at 1433 N. Water St.—home to the headquarters of advertising firm Bader Rutter—will also house a “co-working office space targeting startup and creative businesses.” [Milwaukee Business Journal]