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.
• Not content to (eventually) turn a long-struggling downtown mall into a thriving downtown not-really-a-mall-but-close-enough, one of the owners of the Shops of Grand Avenue is looking to transform the entrance to the 3rd Ward, too. The Aggero Group, led by Tony Janowiec, is planning a 22-story high-rise hotel at the current site of a surface parking lot on Water Street and East St. Paul Avenue, along the Milwaukee River. The $90 million “landmark” project could include 125 to 145 hotel rooms, 165 to 265 apartments or condos, and sidewalk-level storefronts. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Unless you buy the fantasy that all young, attractive, and well-heeled downtown dwellers ride public transportation and bike everywhere, you have a slight problem: Where will all these new 3rd Ward residents park? Happily, an existing parking structure may soon get an additional 300 parking spaces. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Looking for something new in the glut of new apartments? Well, how about bigger apartments? Two buildings featuring a total of 60 three-bedroom apartments are being proposed for South 27th Street. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• A shitload of new apartments are coming to Walker’s Point, too. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• The so-called “Button Block” building, former home of everything from Joey Buona’s to Brett Favre’s Steakhouse, is being converted to a 94-room extended stay Homewood Suites. The hotel will open in May. [88Nine RadioMilwaukee]
• MillerCoors is looking to expand its Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. facility in downtown Milwaukee, complete with new buildings and additions. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• In more MillerCoors news, the company has leased two Menomonee Falls buildings, but hasn’t decided what to do with them yet. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Will the downtown Wisconsin Center convention hall be gifted with a $150 million to $200 million expansion? We’ll find out in about a month. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• A multi-site, 40-unit apartment complex in the Clarke Square neighborhood has taken another step closer to reality with an approval from the Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee. [Urban Milwaukee]
• The former Schuster’s department store at 2153 N. King Drive has been granted $7.9 million in state historic preservation tax credits, and may be converted to—you guessed it—apartments and retail space. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]