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 (hold on to your monocles, everyone who complains about this column every other week) new shit.
• The BV+ development—a.k.a. the Bay View Addition, a.k.a. the mixed-use apartment development coming to the empty lot at 2557 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., a.k.a. the mixed-use apartment development coming to the empty lot at 2557 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. which is next to the former Alchemist Theatre which itself is going to be turned into a mixed-use development thing—will have 15 “micro-units.” The micro-apartments will measure in at a cozy 350 square feet apiece and will rent for “less than $1,000 a month, heat included.”
And yes, the micro-apartments will have foldable dining tables and retractable Murphy beds, just like the Muppets did when they stayed at the Happiness Hotel. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• An affordable housing development is coming to an unused two-block manufacturing complex at N. 32nd Street and W. Center Street. But it won’t just be any affordable housing development—it’ll be “one of the most substantial affordable housing developments in city and state history.”
According to Urban Milwaukee:
Four buildings will include 197 units of housing. There will also be tens of thousands of square feet of commercial space, planned for everyone from startups to a small grocer. A substantial community space within the project is also planned. There were also be a health club, daycare facility, laundry mat and technology training and small business incubation space. The properties cover approximately seven acres.
The project has a $60 million price tag; approximately $37 million will be covered by “low-income housing tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, federal and state historic preservation tax credits, and other financing.” [Urban Milwaukee]
• There’s a new food and retail hall coming to a former Associated Bank branch at 5900 W. North Ave. A food and retail hall…hmmm…someone should come up with a snappier name for something like that… [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Don’t want to eat inside restaurants this summer? Then eat in the streets, thanks to more “parklets.” Parklets…hmmm…someone should come up with a snappier name for something like that… [Milwaukee Business Journal]