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 and wonderful things.
• Back in June, loading-dock manufacturer Rite-Hite was given the green light to move its Brown Deer headquarters to the Reed Street Yards business park in Walker’s Point. The plan was to construct two office buildings totaling 240,586 square feet. But now, Rite-Hite is expanding (and slightly shrinking) the development. Urban Milwaukee explains:
Now it’s seeking a zoning change to expand the buildings by more than 10 percent. Its headquarters building along the waterfront would grow to 158,308 square feet. Its research and development building, to be located across W. Freshwater Way, would grow by just over 5,000 square feet to 108,552 square feet.
As for the “shrinking” part, a glass-fronted office building will be bumped down by one floor. No biggie! All told, the Rite-Hite site will be home to 300 employees involved in “research, design, administration, sales and management.” [Urban Milwaukee]
• The Buca di Beppo restaurant at 1237 N. Van Buren Ave. has been closed since 2017. But now, the prime downtown site—including an adjacent former fitness center and a large parking lot—is set for new life. New Land Enterprises plans to build an eight-story, 220-unit, $35 million apartment building there. The development will come complete with 300 structured parking stalls and 2,500 square feet of street-level commercial space. New Land plans to begin construction in 2021, and open the thing in 2023. [BizTimes]
• The on-again off-again historic designation of the former Forest Home Library at 1432 W. Forest Home Ave. is…off again. Maybe for good. Probably. Maybe. As it stands right now, the library—built in 1966—could be knocked down to make room for a Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin clinic. Unless things get reversed again by the Milwaukee Common Council. Which is meeting today. So who knows. [OnMilwaukee]
• One of those 122-room WoodSpring Suites extended-stay hotels is coming to a state-owned chunk of land on the city’s northwest side, along I-41. The area is already home to a Sam’s Club, an Aldi’s, and a Woodman’s. [Urban Milwaukee]
• In other hotel news, three new hotels—a Home2 Suites by Hilton, a Tru by Hilton, and a Holiday Inn Express—are open in downtown Milwaukee. The three hotels are located in two adjacent buildings at 515-525 N. Jefferson St. They total 331 rooms. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• That giant, kind-of-hilarious concrete slab on the corner of N. Humboldt Boulevard and E. Wright Street in Riverwest is going to be partially filled with shrubs and and trees. The owner of an adjacent apartment building poured the giant, kind-of-hilarious concrete slab in 2019, intending it to be used for parking. Unfortunately, dude didn’t get the proper permits. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Remember the streetcar? Remember the lakefront line of the streetcar that was partially built in 2018, but never used? Well, it looks like the extension—long tied to the never-ending funding saga of the Couture—will finally be completed and opened for public use. In 2022. [Urban Milwaukee]