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.
• A whole lotta new shit was given the green light from the Milwaukee Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee. New Bay View apartments, new East Side coffee shops, and new Third Ward parks were approved, along with Potawatomi Hotel and Casino’s new hotel tower. The latter project will add a 19-story, 119-room, 115,000 square-foot tower to Potawatomi’s existing complex, bringing the total room count to 500. All of the approved projects will go before the full Common Council later today. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Everyone seems surprised every time they’re reminded that A.) East Side bar Judge’s is closed, and B.) it’s going to be turned into luxury apartments. But yeah, Judge’s is closed and it’s going to be turned into apartments—five stories’ worth of apartments, to be exact. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Speaking of the East Side, Downer Avenue is in the midst of a big resurgence. Yeah, the old Chancery and Einstein Bagels are still empty (and have been for literally a decade), but there’s a salon now! And a Stone Creek Coffee on the way! [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• That Third Ward park mentioned above? It’s called the Trestle Park, and it’s gonna cost a cool $1,170,727. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Centro owners Peg Karpfinger and Patrick Moore are opening a new bar next door. The aptly named Bar Centro may be open as early as October. [OnMilwaukee]
• A 45-unit apartment building in Bay View is out, and five single-family homes in Bay View are in. [Urban Milwaukee]
• The average sale price of a downtown condo is $302,403, up 6.9% from last year. The overall number of downtown condos sold in the first half of 2017 (for $100,000 or more), however, is 269, down from 277 during the first half of 2016. [BizTimes]
• That big six-story, 140-unit apartment building planned for the former Hamburger Mary’s in Bay View is still totally going to happen. [Urban Milwaukee]