Depending on which news sources you follow, Milwaukee is going through either a “renaissance” or a “reinvention.” However you want to define it, it’s safe to say that Milwaukee is currently building a lot of new and wonderful things! Here are some of them, brought to you by GTG Home Buyers!
In January 2026, the Wisconsin Center District (WCD) released a 116-page study that recommended building a new 650-room hotel near the recently expanded downtown Baird center. The study was the work of Chicago consulting firm Hunden Partners, and came at a cost of $145,000. And while it didn’t explicitly call for the demolition of the Miller High Life Theatre to make room for the hotel, renderings depicting the hotel occupying the site of the theater more or less did.
“The theater is in need of capital improvement to remain relevant and up to industry standard,” the study said. Elsewhere, it claimed “there is not significant community attachment to Miller High Life Theatre due to its extensive 2003 renovation,” and that the theater “faces competition from venues that are higher quality and/or offer more historical charm.”
Rendering: TVS
This, as you may recall, made everyone mad. Especially Gary Witt, whose Pabst Theater Group operates and exclusively books shows at Miller High Life Theatre. Witt even went as far as producing a 1,100-page binder full of printed emails showing the public’s overwhelming interest in preserving the 120-year-old theater.
Witt’s binder made a splash, but, several months later, the proposed hotel remains a potential New And Wonderful Thing. Sort of. Maybe? Hard to say.
Earlier this month, a WCD board committee reviewed the January study and concluded that yes, a new hotel is probably needed, but no, it isn’t going to happen right away. Instead, the committee recommended creating a new committee to study the study (and financing issues) further. So that’s good news for the hotel, we guess? [Urban Milwaukee]
• From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Limited number of flights at Mitchell Airport could hurt convention hotel plan.” So that’s bad news for the hotel, we guess? [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Remember those plans from the East Side Business Improvement District (BID) to redesign the currently bare-bones Ivanhoe Plaza? Plans to turn it into a “flexible gathering space that supports both everyday neighborhood life and larger East Side events”? Plans that include outfitting the plaza with a community stage and a leaf canopy? Well, YOU could be the naming-rights sponsor of those additions!
“We’re inviting community leaders, businesses, and supporters to be an integral part of the Ivanhoe Plaza project through naming rights opportunities that will shape the East Side for generations to come,” reads a recent post from the BID.
Yes, you can have your name on the stage (“Support the performances, events, and creative energy of the East Side with naming rights to a highly visible and frequently activated centerpiece of the plaza,”) the leaf canopy (“Align your name with one of the plaza’s most iconic visual features, a vibrant gathering space that brings people together under a canopy of light, color, and movement,”) or the whole damn plaza (“Be recognized as the lead supporter of Ivanhoe Plaza with prominent entry signage seen by everyone who gathers, passes through, and experiences this new civic space.”)
Interested? Contact the East Side BID Executive Director Ryan Laessig at [email protected]. [East Side BID]
Offsite links to more new and wonderful things…
• “Milwaukee Walmart closed in 2016. It’s to be redeveloped with new uses.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• “Amazon to establish rapid fulfillment facility in Walker’s Point.” [BizTimes]
• “Apartment plan surfaces at Harbor District site—where other plans have died.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• “Memory care facility to anchor senior housing development in Milwaukee.” [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• “Small Harbor District park could redevelop swing bridge anchor site.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
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RELATED ARTICLES
• ‘I’m not done yet’: Gary Witt has a 22-pound binder full of support for Miller High Life Theatre
• Project to redesign East Side’s Ivanhoe Plaza moving forward