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.
• Heads up, everyone looking for new shit that’s not downtown for a change: Milwaukee developer Kalan Haywood has big things in store for the former Milwaukee Mall on the city’s north side. Kalan is prepping a multi-phase $75 million overhaul that will transform the site of the ex-mall into a boutique hotel, offices, and market-rate housing. According to BizTimes:
The first phase of Haywood’s project will be a 90-room boutique hotel similar to Hotel Metro or the Iron Horse Hotel, he said. It will include a restaurant and rooftop deck. The hotel will include four conference rooms ranging in size from 4,500 square feet to 10,000 square feet, Haywood said.
Haywood also plans to construct an 800- to 1,000-spot parking structure adjacent to the hotel, west of the Sears building.
The developer purchased the three-story, 216,000-square-foot building for $1.5 million (not $1) back in February. The mall, 2100 W. North Ave., closed in early August. [BizTimes]
• The final two lots in the once-barren Menomonee Valley have been sold. Badger Railing will use its newly purchased 1.8 acres for steel fabrication, while Splat! dpi will use its 2 acres for digital printing. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Cobalt Partners have proposed a $200 million mixed-use neighborhood in the Village of Bayside, between I-43 and Port Washington Road, and north of Brown Deer Road. The development would include a 30-story apartment tower, a grocery store, and new office buildings. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• A $1 million, two-story building proposed for a city-owned vacant lot on E. Brady Street has been canceled. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Expansion plans for the Wisconsin Center remain up in the air, but three newly appointed members to the center’s board—restaurateur Omar Shaikh, Marcus Corp. CEO Greg Marcus, and hotel developer Mark Flaherty—support expanding the downtown convention complex. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• That huge Michels Corp. development coming to the former Horny Goat site could get a cool $7.8 million in city financing. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• New elephant bedrooms! [OnMilwaukee]