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!
• Remember all the drama surrounding FPC Live’s plan to build a double-room concert venue on the site of the old Bradley Center in the Deer District, more or less directly across the street from Turner Hall Ballroom? Remember all the meetings, all the location changes, and all the concerns about the project? Well, while the concerns may still be hanging around, the FPC Live project itself has gotten significantly smaller.
Original plans—released in December 2021—called for attached 4,000- and 800-person rooms. Now, the proposed venue has shrunk to a single 4,500-person room. The smaller size and newly tucked-back location leave room for a possible hotel from a separate developer, too. The City Plan Commission gave the revised project a thumbs-up last week.
“The project was too expensive to build as it had been approved,” Frank Productions CEO Joel Plant said at the City Plan Commission meeting. “We are committed to making this $60-plus million investment in Milwaukee.”
A possible 2025 opening date has been tossed around. “The Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee will next review the proposal, before the full council votes on the zoning change,” says [Urban Milwaukee].
Rendering: Eppstein Uhen Architects
• Havenwoods State Forest is Wisconsin’s only urban state forest. And because the 237-acre property is located in Milwaukee—at 6141 N. Hopkins St., to be exact—it’s getting its own taproom and beer garden. The aptly named Havenwoods Taproom and Beer Garden “will have its own trail loop that runs through five acres of forest located behind the warehouse complex that will house the new beer hall.” It’s expected to open at 5840 N. 60th St. no later than St. Patrick’s Day 2024. [OnMilwaukee]
• Developer—and produce distributor!—Anthony Jennaro wants to add 10 apartments and two ground-level commercial spaces to the Third Ward buildings located at 333 and 339 N. Broadway. “The two structures represent the final buildings to be redeveloped on Commission Row, a one-block stretch of N. Broadway that was dominated by wholesale grocers for decades before the neighborhood was redeveloped,” explains [Urban Milwaukee].
• A Common Council committee gave a thumbs-up to New Land Enterprises’ plan to build a 24-story, 346-unit apartment tower on a surface parking lot at Farwell and Curtis on the East Side. Original plans called for a 25-story, 318-unit tower. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Rendering: Korb + Associates Architects
• Saz’s Hospitality Group has broken ground on a big expansion to its South Second event venue in Walker’s Point. The expansion is located in an adjacent lot at 822 S. 2nd St. When completed in spring 2024, “the space will feature an all-seasons patio, outdoor bar, elevated balcony, additional green spaces and parking for event guests.” [Urban Milwaukee]
• That big Fromm Family Pet Food dog park planned for underneath I-794 in downtown Milwaukee—between Plankinton and Clybourn—is expected to open next summer. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Pickleball, meet Pick ‘n Save: Arizona-based Pickleball Kingdom is opening a Milwaukee-area location in a former Pick ‘n Save in Brookfield. An opening date has yet to be announced. [WISN 12]
• “While Milwaukee officials seem interested in expanding the streetcar further after opening a new lakefront line this month, they haven’t yet found a way to pay for it.” [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Oh, and chunks of the terra cotta facade of Milwaukee City Hall are falling off. Again. The facade was last repaired and restored in the distant year of 2008, to the tune of $76 million. [Urban Milwaukee]
Want more Milwaukee Record? Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and/or support us on Patreon.
RELATED ARTICLES
• Full “New And Wonderful Things” (formerly called “New Sh*t”) archives