New Arena Plan & Pabst Brewing Returns

Gov. Scott Walker’s announcement of a $220 million plan to help pay for the new NBA arena was the news that got the crowd cheering last week. Well, there were some boos too. But certainly the issue generated lots of discussion.

Will the plan get passed? Rich Kirchen of the Business Journal reported that Assembly Speaker Rep. Robin Vos and Sen. Alberta Darling weren’t quite sold on Walker’s proposal. “I think it’s not an easy sell,” Darling told Kirchen. Said Vos: “A piece that’s really missing is the city of Milwaukee has to step up as well as the county.”  Vos added, “I’m not so sure I support $220 million…That’s a little bit rich.”

Will the city provide some support for the project? “A lot of this is dependent on site acquisition,” Mayor Tom Barrett told Alison Bauter of the Business Journal.

Meanwhile, Marquette University announced that the university, and the Milwaukee Bucks, will construct a new, multi-purpose facility for intercollegiate and professional athletics, research, and health and wellness initiatives. It will have indoor playing fields for lacrosse and soccer, an indoor track, and an athletic performance research facility. The facility will be located on land Marquette purchased from the State of Wisconsin in the 800 block of W. Michigan St.

Although, the Business Journal’s coverage of the arena was extensive and in-depth it was Don Behm and the Journal Sentinel that might have given the final clue as to where the arena will be located. Hint: take a close look at the “Pay Their Way” graphic with this story. We’re betting the land just north of the Bradley Center is the chosen site. Expect a site announcement shortly.

In other Bucks news, Kirchen revealed that the Bucks have raised $118 million from minority investors in the team. Expect all of them to be lobbying the legislature to support the arena funding plan.

And, according to a tweet by Alex Lasry, the Bucks will officially move into Schlitz Park on Tuesday.

New @Bucks office starting to come together. Officially relocate to Schlitz Park Tues #greenandgrowing#lovetheviewpic.twitter.com/MwPHhKDzra

— Alexander Lasry (@AlexanderLasry) February 1, 2015

 

The Return of Pabst

While the arena plan was the big news last week, the story that put the ribbon on it came from a an article by Tom Daykin of the Journal Sentinel, that the Pabst Brewing Co. might be returning to Milwaukee, at least for some of its operation. Eugene Kashper, Pabst’s owner, toured various sites at The Brewery, the former Pabst Brewing site. “We want to be in an authentic, old Pabst space,” Kashper said.

The question Daykin didn’t ask, and one that I’m sure Matt Wild over at the Milwaukee Record is dying to know: Did the group that was formed called Milwaukee Should Own Pabst Blue Ribbon, play any role in getting Kashper to bring Pabst home?

In Other News…

-A new office building could be coming to the Third Ward. Daykin reported that the City Plan Commission voted to approve vacating an alley at N. Milwaukee, N. Young, and E. Erie streets that would provide more land, thus allowing Commercial Horizons Inc. to develop the property for an office building.

–David, Winograd‘s group, LCM Funds 27 Parking LLC, is demolishing a 12,000-square-foot warehouse at 300-306 S. 1st St. to create more parking for his neighboring South Water Works complex.

–According to another story by Daykin, the International Building, 611 W. National Ave., which the city recently acquired from Esperanza Unida Inc. through a foreclosure, will be sold to 611 West National Avenue Milwaukee, LLC for $1.3 millon.  The firm will convert the upper floors into 36 apartments while maintaining the integrity of the famous and highly visible “Mural of Peace,” by Milwaukee artist Reynaldo Hernandez.

-The Findorff company has been building in Wisconsin, and Milwaukee for 125 years, and to celebrate they will be sharing their Postcards from the Past, with images all the way back to Findorff’s beginnings at the start of the nineteenth century.

And in case you missed it, we featured the Third Phase of The North End in last week’s Friday Photos.