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 and wonderful things.
• We’ve already told you about that new and wonderful two-room music venue in the Deer District, as well as that new and wonderful soccer stadium and music venue and 99-unit affordable apartment building in the newly created Iron District. So let’s talk about some improvements to an existing two-room music venue and adjacent event space in the Harbor District, shall we?
The fine folks at Boone & Crockett and The Cooperage are planning to take their chunk of riverfront property—now a temporary outdoor patio and surface-level parking lot that also houses a food truck, Brew City Kayak, and Milwaukee Pedal Tavern—and turn it into a permanent, public riverwalk. Hell yeah! Urban Milwaukee explains:
The proposal would add a wooden boardwalk along the water with a pathway from S. Water St. Benches would be interspersed along the walkway and a steel railing, with a drink rail, would line the edge. A beer garden, with a permanent bar and picnic tables, would be set back from the walkway. Coin-operated viewfinders could be added to the boardwalk, “because it would just be a lot of fun,” [architect Chris] Socha said.
Also: a “fish hotel.” The project is set for completion by spring 2023. [Urban Milwaukee]
• About that soccer stadium in the newly created Iron District: it will probably need public subsidy. [Urban Milwaukee]
• About that 99-unit affordable apartment building in the newly created Iron District: it will probably need public subsidy, too. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Scientists say that by 2028, every two-block area of Milwaukee will be transformed into its own entertainment district. Thus, a Milwaukee County Board Supervisor is proposing plopping some bars, restaurants, and probably a music venue onto some of American Family Field’s parking lots and turning the area into a so-called “ballpark district.” The creation of said district could help pay for future stadium improvements. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Oh, and the whole “ballpark district” plan was apparently news to folks from AmFam Field and the Milwaukee Brewers, though they now say they’ll look into it. [WUWM]
• Remember way back when (a.k.a. pre-pandemic) when folks got all lathered up over the Marcus Performing Arts Center’s plans to tear out its dingy “sunken grove” of horse chestnut trees and replace it with a bright, open, tree-lined lawn? Oh, to be young again. Anyway, the Marcus Center is continuing work on the delayed project, and plans to finish up by the end of summer. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• The old Suminski Family Funeral Home at 2480-2486 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.—you know, the old funeral home across the street from Avalon Theater—is going to be converted into 14 apartments. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Oh, and six duplexes may or may not be coming to nearby 2501 E. Oklahoma Ave. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• The top floors of the half-empty 100 East office tower on the corner of Wisconsin and Water could be converted into apartments. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• The City would like someone to build something on that empty lot near the Freshwater Plaza Apartments, at 200 E. Greenfield Ave.. Back in 2018, Wangard Partners proposed building a six-story, mixed-use building there, but that never happened. [Urban Milwaukee]
• The “Are they ever going to tear down the long-abandoned Northridge Mall?” saga continues. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• And what did we learn this week? Well, they’re always building something. Isn’t that right, old song from my old band?
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• Full “New And Wonderful Things” (formerly called “New Sh*t”) archives