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.” However you want to define it, it’s safe to say that Milwaukee is currently building a lot of new and wonderful things!
• Remember that big plan to turn the former Sears store at 2100 W. North Ave.—a.k.a. the former Milwaukee Mall—into an 80-room Ikon Hotel and conference center? The same plan that involved the developer recently seeking a third extension to repay a $3.75 million city loan for the project? Yeah, that one. Well, it’s not happening anymore. Instead, the developer now wants to turn the three-story building into a “brewery, art gallery, event space, office space and apartments known as Sears Market.” The remaining chunk of the site would be “carved up into separate parcels and redeveloped as housing.” [Urban Milwaukee]
• The old Chancery space at 2575 N. Downer Ave. has been empty, vacant, and bereft of a business for a staggering 16 years. Could something finally set up shop in the high-profile location? How about two somethings? Yes, the 4,200-square-foot space is set to be divided in two, all in hopes of attracting new businesses. One business, a gourmet bubble tea joint called SereniTea, already announced plans to open in the space back in March. A second business has yet to come along. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Construction of that massive eight-building, 576-unit affordable housing complex planned for 123 and 147 E. Becher St. in Bay View could begin in the next two months. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Everyone’s favorite downtown public transit system, The Hop, will open its long-planned lakefront line on October 29. However, “initially its service will be very limited because construction of the Couture apartment tower means its central station cannot open to passengers.” [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Asian grocery store owner Kia Her would like to build an Asian grocery store at 6204 W. Silver Spring Dr. [Urban Milwaukee]
• The owners of a historic Third Ward tavern at 266 E. Erie St. would like to knock it down. The tavern, which survived a devastating neighborhood fire in 1892, has been empty for a decade. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Milwaukee County would like someone—seriously, anyone—to build something on the last undeveloped Park East lot in downtown Milwaukee. The 2.28-acre block, “bounded by N. Water St., E. Ogden Ave. N. Milwaukee St. and N. Broadway,” is now up for sale for the fourth time. [Urban Milwaukee]
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• Full “New And Wonderful Things” (formerly called “New Sh*t”) archives