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.
• If you’ve ever strolled and/or stumbled through Pulaski Park on Milwaukee’s fashionable East Side and thought to yourself: “I wish I couldn’t afford to live here,” you’re in luck. Developer Jason Pietsch wants to build seven townhouses facing the park, each boasting 2,100 square feet of space, three bedrooms, a rooftop deck, and a two-car garage. At a recent neighborhood meeting (where folks “overwhelmingly endorsed the proposal”), Pietsch declined to name a price for the units, only saying: “I think the number starts with a 5.” Urban Milwaukee notes: “That’s $500,000, not $50,000.” [Urban Milwaukee]
• Can’t-stop-won’t-stop Milwaukee developer Joshua Jeffers recently snatched up two buildings on the corner South Sixth Street and West National Avenue in Walker’s Point. One of the buildings will be leased back to its former owner, The Council for the Spanish Speaking. The other building will be redeveloped. [BizTimes]
• Speaking of Jeffers, the ever-busy developer, along with Tony Janowiec, has signed contracts to buy the city block currently occupied by the Journal Sentinel building. The site will likely be redeveloped into a mixed-use deal with apartments and office and retail space. The Journal Sentinel could stay on as a tenant. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• The fog is getting thicker, and the new Broadway Connection office building at 511 North Broadway is getting laaaaarger. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Chicago-based Ravine Park Partners wants to build a high-end, 200-unit apartment building on a vacant lot between North Milwaukee Street and North Broadway in downtown Milwaukee. The project is in the initial planning stages, and Ravine hopes to have a specific proposal ready by March. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District No. 21. is moving its offices to The Avenue, a.k.a. the just-about-closed-up Shops of Grand Avenue. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Milwaukee really wants a downtown Target. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Construction of a new apartment building where that beat-up Cousins Subs used to be on the corner of Oakland and Locust is coming along swimmingly, and Urban Milwaukee has the pictures to prove it. And don’t worry: Cousins will return to the first floor. [Urban Milwaukee]