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.
• The new Milwaukee Bucks arena is pretty much done. The new Milwaukee Bucks arena opens August 26. The new Milwaukee Bucks arena still doesn’t have a name (it’s the “Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center” for now). But what the new Milwaukee Bucks arena does have (apparently) is a future spot for ever-popular/controversial restaurant chain Chick-fil-A. Yum? And yes, BizTimes mentions the whole “closed on Sundays” thing:
Truett Cathy, the company’s late founder, incorporated Christian values into his business, including closing the entire chain on Sundays. The Chick-fil-A restaurant at Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta, home of the NFL’s Falcons, is also closed on Sundays, which means it usually is not open for Falcons games.
More details are expected to be announced this week. [BizTimes]
• A much-ballyhooed “pocket park” at 501 E. Erie St. in the Historic Third Ward is pretty much done! Trestle Park features “not just a pocket park along the Milwaukee RiverWalk, but access to a 150-foot-long by 40-foot-wide trestle structure that sticks out into the Milwaukee River allowing for some incredible views.” [Urban Milwaukee]
• The long-vacant Lowe’s home improvement store in Milwaukee’s Midtown Center, 5800 W. Hope Ave., will soon be a distribution center for Sellars Absorbent Materials Inc. The local company “makes materials for industrial accident cleanups.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Miami investor Cambridge Landmark recently bought the Hyatt Regency in downtown Milwaukee for a cool $37.3 million. “Every aspect of the property is going to be changed over the next 18 months,” said Pedro Miranda, a managing partner of Cambridge Landmark. Plans have yet to be revealed for the circular restaurant space on top of the building. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• A row of crummy-looking commercial buildings along the new streetcar line is getting a kinda-sorta historic makeover. The three buildings, which run from 627 to 637 N. Broadway, will be “redeveloped with a unified, historically sensitive facade, but not one that exactly matches what the buildings originally looked like when they were built in 1900.” The project is the brainchild of philanthropist David Uihlein, who (along with his wife) recently chipped in a ton of cash for downtown’s Warner Grand Theatre/Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra redevelopment. [Urban Milwaukee]
• The developers behind a four-story, $13 million Milwaukee Public Library branch/apartment building meant to replace the old Mill Road Library at 6431 N. 76th St. may be given more time to complete the project. Previously, the library portion was supposed to be finished by January 15, and the 65 upper-level apartment units were supposed to be finished by March 15. Those dates may be bumped up to April 15 and August 15, respectively. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• A “wealthy San Diego investor” bought a 2.3-parcel of primo Harbor District land at 1958-1970 S. 1st. Plans for the site have yet to be announced. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Rich people have begun moving into Northwestern Mutual’s 7Seventy7 apartment tower. The 35-story, 310-unit building at 777 N. Van Buren St. is the city’s tallest apartment tower. Rent ranges from $1,415 to $7,485 per month. [Urban Milwaukee]