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.
• Today in Century City news (yeah, we know this column is about stuff that was announced last week, but cut us some slack), a “long-established Wisconsin company” plans to build a “new, state-of-the-art production facility” at the neglected north side business park. The as-yet-unnamed company will build a 175,000-square foot facility and employ 250 people. According to a statement, that latter number could go all the way up to 500.
So who, exactly, is the “long-established Wisconsin company” that plans to break ground later this year and begin operations in 2021? Today’s press conference on the matter was canceled “as a result of unforeseen circumstances.” Instead, a formal announcement is expected “in the next day or two.” In the meantime: hemp? [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• An investor group has purchased a long-vacant retail building at 2235 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. No plans have been announced for the 15,000-square-foot Grants building, but “the new ownership group is now exploring possibilities with the hope of contributing to the broader revival of King Drive.” [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• An old one-story building at 2349 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View is being knocked down to make way for a new one-story building at 2349 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View. The new one-story building at 2349 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View will be home to Sushi Yuki, which is expected to open in early 2020. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Developer Ryan Bedford wants to build an 11-story, 133-unit apartment building along the Milwaukee River at 234 S. Water St. in Walker’s Point. The target audience for the development? Empty nesters and “homeowners in Whitefish Bay, Fox Point or the western suburbs who want to sell in today’s high-price market.” [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Speaking of Walker’s Point, that massive blue building on the corner of 1st and National—which formerly housed Select Sound Service—is on the market for a cool $1.5 million. [Urban Milwaukee]
• A four-story, 132-room Cambria hotel is open now at 503 N. Plankinton Ave. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• A 14-story, 227-room Drury hotel will open soon at the corner of Wisconsin and Water. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• With the $300 million expansion of the downtown Wisconsin Center looming on the horizon, the Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus wants to ensure minority-owned businesses will be tapped for the project. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport wants $25 million from Milwaukee County in order to draw international flights to the international airport. [Wisconsin Public Radio]
• Fiserv Forum is putting a Fiserv Forum sign on the roof of the Fiserv Forum. [Milwaukee Business Journal]