Bob Donovan and the Milwaukee Streetcar

Alderman Bob Donovan is becoming a specialist in anti-streetcar press conferences. This time he held the press conference at a bar in his district instead of City Hall, and this time (too bad for those of us who like street theater) Alderman Bob Bauman chose not to attend. Bauman’s absence didn’t stop Donovan from referencing his own blow-up last week. In case any of you thought Donovan looked outflanked last week, he now claims that when he slammed his fist on the podium during the prior press conference Bauman soiled his pants (video).

I stand by my past prediction that Donovan will continue to create press releases and press conferences on the streetcar. It’s pretty apparent why Donovan has chosen this time to make it a big issue: Mayor Barrett is running for Governor, and Donovan doesn’t mind undercutting the mayor’s campaign. Win or lose for Barrett, Donovan is likely to be a lot less interested in this issue come June 6th.

A New Basketball Arena?

Yes, they’ve tried before, but it looks there will be renewed effort to create a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks, and this attempt– which is beginning to feel like a full court press — isn’t likely to be abandoned.  The announcement of naming rights for what will be known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center is the linchpin to the latest strategy. The MMAC, under the leadership of Tim Sheehy, helped broker a six-year naming rights deal with the new bank in town as well as handful of other sponsorships with other local companies. The $18 million in sponsorships (or $3 million a year) are to serve as a bridge to a new arena. They also send a signal that some of Milwaukee’s businesses (whose support has not been all that clear in the past) do see it as beneficial to have an NBA team in town.

It’s encouraging that the Uihleins have reversed their stance on the naming rights for the facility after publicly opposing such a deal in 2008. The worst thing that could happen to the facility would be losing its primary tenant — and Wisconsin’s only NBA franchise — to another city. BMO Harris will get increased brand name recognition, the Bucks will get a new revenue stream, and many will still call the building the Bradley Center. It’s a win for everyone.

Of interest from the fact sheet the Bucks released with the announcement is that the Bradley Center “draws 30% of its attendees from outside the four-county metro area of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha County,” which of course raises the issue of which taxpayers (if any) might be enlisted to help pay for a new arena — a very dicey subject. Also of interest in the NBA arena space race, the Golden State Warriors are inching closer to moving across the bay to San Francisco.

Jimmy Goldstein Could Buy the Milwaukee Bucks

Multi-millionaire and NBA superfan Jimmy Goldstein seems like a candidate to buy the Milwaukee Bucks, albeit an outside one. The Los Angeles area resident holds courtside season tickets to both the Lakers and Clippers currently, but grew up in the Milwaukee area (his father owned Zahn’s department store in Racine for many years). He reveals in his GQ column that NBA Commissioner David Stern reached out to him previously about buying the Milwaukee Bucks, but the deal never came together because of Michael Jordan’s interest.

Current owner Herb Kohl is likely to sell the team in the not-too-distant future, and whether it comes before, after, or as part of a new arena being built is likely to be a crucial factor in retaining the Milwaukee franchise. A sale before a new arena would be the worst scenario: I think a Sonicsgate situation would leave a bitter taste in a lot of Milwaukeeans mouths.

Goldstein is well-known among the NBA blogosphere for crisscrossing the country during the playoffs to watch as many games as possible. He claims to have just come off a stretch where he attended 24 games in 23 days. He also owns a fairly well-known house that has appeared in a number of films. If you’re looking to get more acquainted with some interior shots of the iconic home, head to Lebowski Fest at Cathedral Square on June 22nd.

If he were to buy the team, Jimmy Goldstein would be the second Los Angeles-based owner of a Milwaukee sports team, following in the footsteps of Brewers owner Mark Attanasio. Including County Executive Chris Abele in a Goldstein ownership group would add a level of intrigue: which of the two long-time NBA courtside ticket holders, Goldstein or Abele, would get the best seats in the house?

Downtown Trolley is Back

The Milwaukee Trolley Loop returns May 30th.  It will operate Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. until 9 p.m. The service will provide rides for $1. Service runs through September 8th.

The route remains unchanged from last year, but if anyone could draw it from memory I would be surprised. The trolley is undoubtedly a positive for downtown Milwaukee, but there’s no doubt a fixed guideway system like a streetcar would be an upgrade.

East Library Land Sale and UWM Zoning Change Approved by Common Council

The East Library redevelopment project continues to move forward. We reported earlier this week that up-zoning for the site had been recommended for approval by the City Plan Commission, and now the full City of Milwaukee Common Council has approved the land sale necessary for the deal. The Standard at East Library is set to open in the spring of 2014. More details on the project can be found on our East Library category page.

In addition, as referenced in last week’s Eyes on Milwaukee, UW-Milwaukee’s request for a zoning change for the former St. Mary’s Hospital was approved. At this point the university is not publicly planning a large expansion of student housing to the property. I failed to clarify last week that the action was taken up by the Zoning, Neighborhoods, and Development Committee, not the full Common Council, but this the full council gave its approval Tuesday.  It’s now awaiting the signature of the Mayor.

Turek was quietly replaced by his second-in-command, David Drent, who has now worked for 40 years at the War Memorial, including 15 as executive director. You might say change comes slowly to the War Memorial.

Meanwhile, the War Memorial has been slowly rotting. Back in 1994, a study of the facility by Kahler Slater architects and developer Gary Grunau found major problems at the 1957 facility and its 1975 Kahler addition. The study found $5.5 million was needed for repairs to the exterior and interior of the War Memorial, including nearly $1 million to replace the leaky art museum roof, which has allowed water into some gallery space.  Other repairs were needed to air conditioning and duct work, the report said, noting the museum “has a very dirty air distribution and duct system that contributes to a musty odor.”

The problems went back many years and had been slowly allowed to get worse. Then county supervisor Tom Bailey recommended Milwaukee County budget $7 million for the problem, but his proposal failed.

Milwaukee Art Museum officials would periodically complain that its art collection was at risk from the water damage and other problems, but nothing was done. In September 2007, water damage caused floors to buckle in the Kahler addition. Drent’s response was lethargic: “I don’t know if there’s a magic pill on this one,” he said. “But we need to find ways to minimize the damage.”

A 2005 editorial by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the facility’s problems suggested creating a public-private partnership that would enlist the aid of veterans groups to solve the problem. After all, local veterans groups had donated to other causes; why not to the city’s most important war memorial? The natural person to organize the effort would have been Drent, but no such campaign ever materialized.

Milwaukee's Lakefront

That, in essence, is what Milwaukee Art Museum art director Dan Keegan is proposing: the museum would raise $15 million in private dollars and the county would kick in $9.8 million (with much of the county money going to finally repair the same old problems). But Drent, who has in the past supported more funding from the county, now opposes the idea since Keegan’s plan calls for the museum to take over operation of the War Memorial. Keegan notes, reasonably enough, that the museum can’t spend money to repair and renovate a facility it doesn’t control — and whose landlord, he might have added, has long stood by as the museum’s art collection was periodically threatened by water damage.

“You’ve heard our plan,” Keegan says. “What is David Drent’s plan? I haven’t heard it yet.”

Drent will only say he needs more time: “We’re trying to figure out what we can do. It’s just very complicated.”

A county audit has suggested there are efficiencies to be realized if the museum and War Memorial merged operations. But Drent could lose his job — he earns $110,000 annually — if the museum took over the War Memorial.

Drent, however, contends his concern is the veterans. “We want to make sure the veterans will always be honored.”

But if this was truly Drent’s concern, why hasn’t he done more to stop the War Memorial’s deterioration?

Drent claims he works “closely” with the War Memorial veterans board, a kind of advisory board, but could not tell me their position on the art museum’s renovation plan. Nor could he supply a phone number for the board chairman.

As for the War Memorial Board of Trustees, its 15 member board includes just one member appointed by veterans. And the board might as well be invisible. The list of board members can’t be found at the War Memorial website or anywhere else online. When asked why, Drent says “I don’t have an answer for you. It should be.”

The reality is that the two groups most directly affected — the art museum and veterans — don’t really have much power over the War Memorial. Maybe that’s why its falling apart. Keegan’s proposal, once and for all, is a chance to solve the problem.

Won't you be my neighbor?

Once it was impossible for a candidate from Milwaukee to get elected governor. Now, it seems that’s the only kind we want to elect. In a state encompassing 65,505 square miles, Gov. Scott Walker and Mayor Tom Barrett live bizarrely close to each other, exactly two miles and 59 feet apart. Barrett is at 5030 W. Washington Blvd., just a ways northeast of Walker, who lives at 520 N. 68th Street in Wauwatosa. Walker lives near the Valley Forge neighborhood, and some Republicans would have you believe he’s suffering as much abuse as George Washington once did. Barrett is in the Washington Heights neighborhood and hopes to scale the heights on June 5. The two town rivals are so close geographically you’d think they could just meet half-way at Hawthorn Glen and settle the election mano-a-mano.

Right Wing Recall Fan

It seems to have become an article of faith among conservatives that recalls have gone overboard and we need limits on their use. An interesting exception is the Citizens for Responsible Government, and its spokesperson Chris Kliesmet. Kliesmet is a fervent Walker supporter, but opposed to limiting the use of recalls in Wisconsin.

No one has worked on more recalls in this state. Kliesmet estimates CRG has helped groups launch at least two dozen recalls. Most were small municipal elections and had a conservative slant, often in opposition to government spending. CRG was formed to recall former Milwaukee County Executive F. Thomas Ament, whose resignation opened the door for the election of Scott Walker.

Kliesmet argues that frivolous recalls will not succeed. “If it’s for a bad reason — I don’t like the official’s dog — you’re not going to get the signatures.”

And Kliesmet is adamant that recalls are critical to a vibrant democracy. “Do you wait till the next election to fire a bad plumber?” he asks. “Politicians are not a protected class. They should not be given a four-year no-cut contract.”

Why the Journal Sentinel Endorsed Walker

Many around town were buzzing about the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s endorsement of Scott Walker. The editorial, after all, offered a laundry list of negatives about Walker’s performance, noting that “No governor in America is so polarizing” and “Walker brought on some of this animosity on himself,” while Act 10 was “an overreach of political power.” That sounds more or less like a Barrett stump speech.

Yet the JS had no choice but to endorse Walker because it has editorialized against recalls pursued because of disagreement over “a single policy.” It has yet to explain why the recall was a legitimate tool in the case of Tom Ament and the single policy change (the pension plan) he championed.

But in the future, to be consistent, it will have to oppose the recall when the next politician passes some outrageously self-serving but legal piece of legislation like the county pension plan. It seems a strange position indeed for a paper that prides itself on its watchdog stories to protect the public interest.

They Like Us, They Really Like Us!

Readers were quick to point out that the New York Times did get around to reviewing the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s performance at Carnegie Hall. Critic James R. Oestreich’s review offered plenty of praise. He lauded music director Edo de Waart, who, “no surprise, showed full command here and in the more standard works” and the “responsive orchestra (which) shone everywhere, with warm strings, characterful woodwinds and strong brasses.” Characterful woodwinds are my favorite kind.

MSO musicians are still hopeful that New Yorker writer Alex Ross (for my money the best classical music critic in America) will review the concert.

The Journal Sentinel presumably didn’t think it was worth the cost to fly its freelance critic to review the concert, yet Shepherd Express critic Rick Walters and ThirdCoast Digest’s Tom Strini managed to get there. Word has it Walters had frequent flyer miles and Strini got help from a symphony patron. So it goes in a world where publications of all kinds are slashing their budgets for arts critics.

Waukesha Dry Gulches Itself

JS reporter Don Behm did a solid and pretty gutsy story on Waukesha’s bid for Lake Michigan water that predicts the city is unlikely to meet the legal deadline for its proposal. Waukesha is the first city completely outside the Great Lakes basis to ask the various states in the region for permission to divert Lake Michigan, but there is a legal time table for such proposals, and Waukesha looks like it may not make it.

The legal requirements are hard enough, but Waukesha hurt itself first by going the cheap route. Instead of proposing to build a pipeline to return water all the way back to the lake, which would have been more expensive, it chose the option of returning the water to Underwood Creek in Wauwatosa, where the water would then flow into the Menomonee River and eventually to the lake. But that raises sticky environmental issues that will delay the process.

Waukesha’s voters hurt the effort by electing Jeff Scrima as mayor, who ran on an anti-Milwaukee platform and has done everything to oppose and slow down the proposal to gain Lake Michigan water. It looks like Scrima and his supporters are going to get their way. But they may regret it.

Example of the minimums allowed by LB2 compared to LB3

Residents are still a little restive about it, but the East Side’s buildings are likely to get a little higher, to judge by the results of today’s City Plan Commission meeting.

The Commission approved up-zoning (higher height limits) for the project to replace the East Library, while a broader proposal for a similar up-zoning along the rest of along E. North Ave was held. This approval keeps The Standard at East Library on track for a spring 2014 opening. Meanwhile it remains to be seen if up-zoning for all of E. North Avenue  can be completed before a rumored development for the former Prospect Mall comes forward. Besides raising minimum and maximum heights, the zoning changes also permit greater density, while requiring designs more conducive to walkable neighborhoods.

Two years in the making, the proposed up-zoning is part of the continuing evolution of E. North Ave from the river to Prospect Ave, and springs from the same effort that created the East Side Architectural Review Board. The two zoning changes were introduced as separate items because of the time sensitive nature of the library redevelopment, despite the fact that it is located on North Avenue.

East North Avenue

Proposed Area to Zone LB3

First up before the commission was the proposal to up-zone E. North Ave’s zoning classification from Local Business 2 (LB2) to Local Business 3 (LB3), which would  raise the minimum heights for buildings to 30 feet (up from 18), and the maximum heights to 75 feet (up from 60).

Department of City Development (DCD) planner Greg Patin explained the rational behind the changes, noting the city had previously reformed its zoning codes, but had not created enough options for districts. The Department believes that some recent developments have not fit in as well as they could have, and that these code changes would rectify the situation. Patin noted that recent developments in the area, such as UWM’s residence halls and Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital, are excluded from the boundaries of the proposed change from LB2 to LB3 as they already have special zoning accommodations beyond what LB2 allows.

He noted that the LB3 zoning district is a completely new zoning classification created by the city that allows for greater minimum and maximum heights as well as increased density. It was designed to create additional options for zoning districts, and to reduce the number of planned developments (projects which require special zoning exemptions on a site-by-site basis). This new zoning designation also requires a greater street frontage and taller ground level windows. For those thirsty for more details, DCD has produced a presentation in PDF format that further explains the new LB3 designation.

Jim Plaisted, Executive Director of the East Side Business Improvement District, spoke in favor of the changes, but two neighbors were opposed.

Cindy Kluge, speaking on behalf of the Greenwich Village Neighborhood Assocation, asked for the matter to be postponed until the area’s neighborhood associations have more time to review the proposal. Her association is in favor of zoning change around North Avenue, but would like the heights to taper off as they get away from North Ave.

Pam Frautschi, President of the East Side Milwaukee Community Council, said her group basically supports the position of the Greenwich Village Neighborhood Association. She stated that the density allowed is one aspect of the zoning change the East Side Milwaukee Community Council opposes.

Alderman Nik Kovac spoke at length on the proposed changes. He noted it has been a two year process to get this point, and that this isn’t something that has “dropped out of left field.” He stated that the entire portion of the proposal south of Thomas Ave is non-controversial, and that city officials had worked with neighborhood groups on these changes. As an example, Kovac noted that everything on the west side of Murray Ave, north of Thomas Ave, is to be left as LB2. He also stated that he felt that for Murray Ave 75 feet is probably too high, but also that 18 feet (the existing minimum) is too low. He noted that there is some urgency to moving this forward as a Prospect Mall proposal is in the works.

There was some discussion of a compromise to remove the up-zoning north of Thomas Ave, which Kluge said she generally supported, but added that her other concern is “public process,” that the neighborhood association needed more time to review the proposed changes.

Ultimately, the up-zoning was held until the next meeting of the commission on a 3 to 2 vote.

East Library

The Standard at East Library

The East Libary zoning change, from LB2 to the new LB3, was brought before the Plan Commission today in order to allow the East Library RFP winners, HSI Properties and WiRED Properties, to move forward with their plan to gain U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) financing approval.

Unlike the broader North Ave up-zoning, no one spoke against the changes for the East Library site. Alderman Kovac explained that although there isn’t universal support for the design plans for the new mixed-use library, there is a lot of support, and this zoning change is needed to move the project forward.

The City Plan Commission unanimously recommended for approval the change from LB2 to LB3 for the East Library site.

The East Libary will be the first property in the site to be zoned LB3 if confirmed by the Common Council.

For past coverage of the redevelopment of the East Library, see our East Library category page.

Southeast View

Many critics would argue that the War Memorial Center designed by Eero Saarinen is the city’s most important work of architecture, ranking it ahead of the Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum. Yet the Saarinen has been allowed to slowly deteriorate. Worse, some of the resulting water seepage threatens the art museum’s collection of paintings, whose value is estimated at $1 billion. There is no similar concentration of great art and architecture to be found in Wisconsin, so you might think there would be great concern about fixing the problem. Curiously, that hasn’t been the case.

The reasons for that begin with the bizarre governance structure of the War Memorial. Though the art museum occupies 70 percent of the space in the Saarinen building and the Kahler addition built in 1975, it does not run the buildings. Instead they are run by War Memorial executive director David Drent, who answers to the War Memorial Board of directors, the majority of whose members are appointed by the County Executive and County Board because the county owns the buildings. The War Memorial Board also runs the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, the Charles Allis Museum and Villa Terrace. The reasons for this convoluted governance are historical, but as a September audit by Milwaukee County concluded, “there are six separate boards of directors” running these facilities.

If you were looking for just the right governance structure to assure that a great work of architecture would fall apart, this would probably be it. The county audit called the War Memorial’s governance structure “antiquated” and noted that its Board of Trustees “oversight role is limited…meets only quarterly, for approximately one hour per meeting.”

The audit offered a rough, “preliminary estimate” that repairs to the War Memorial and Kahler addition would cost at least $5.3 million. The document was signed by Drent and Daniel Keegan, Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, who jointly promised to present a detailed response with possible solutions to the Milwaukee County Board by April, 2012. Drent, however, tells me he wants still more time, but won’t say how long is needed. Keegan says action must be taken as soon as possible, and that a comprehensive plan to truly assure the repair and restoration of the two buildings will cost $25 million. His plan calls for the museum to raise $15 million and the county to kick in $9.8 million, and for the museum to assume operation of the War Memorial, to assure it doesn’t fall into disrepair in future years.

It’s a sensible plan that’s long overdue and that constructively addresses the issues raised by the county audit, but sloppy reporting by the media and wrongheaded responses by county board members have already mired the plan in misunderstandings. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel led things off with a story incorrectly touting a $15 million plan, and Fox 6 echoed the figure in its story. (The Business Journal and, later, BizTimes.com, did get the figure right.) Among the many other misunderstandings are these:

The Veterans will be displaced: County Supervisor Michael Mayo blasted this plan as a “hostile invasion” by the art museum and called on the interest of veterans to be protected. Other board members suggested the museum and veterans groups should negotiate over control of the War Memorial. In fact, the veterans have little control over the War Memorial. They now appoint just one member of the War Memorial board. As the county audit noted, activity at the War Memorial is “heavily tilted” toward non-veteran activities, with veterans activities  accounting for just 20 percent of facility rentals and 11 percent of the office space used there.

Perhaps the best sign of how poorly their interests are served is that the city‘s major memorial has been allowed to deteriorate so badly.  The problems include cracked and broken glass, water seepage that has warped floors, crumbling concrete, rusting steel framing, a leaky roof and other problems. The War Memorial’s condition is “shameful,” Keegan says. “We believe that a memorial for veterans, for people who gave their lives for this country, needs to be treated better and we’ve put in place a plan to make that happen.”

Veterans weren’t consulted: As Mayo put it, they were “blindsided by surprise attacks.” Mayo offered not one example of a veteran who felt this way. Keegan says the art museum ran its plans by all the constituent groups overseen by the War Memorial Board, including the War Memorial veterans board, a kind of advisory board. “The veterans have said they don’t care one way or the other about the building’s governance,” Keegan says, “they just want the War Memorial to be preserved.” Drent concedes that the veterans group liked the museum’s plan. As to whether the veterans were concerned about the proposed governance change, Drent said “I can’t speak for the board.” Given that he opposes and could lose his job under Keegan’s plan, you can bet Drent would  present any evidence the veterans board was on his side.

Keegan’s plan calls for renovation of Fitch Plaza, a memorial to veterans toward the rear of the War Memorial, which has been neglected for years. It would become a memorial garden and green roof with paths leading toward a dramatic view of the lake. Veterans, he says, loved this idea.

The plan includes a new building: JS reporter Mary Louise Schumacher called it a “glassy new addition,” a “new structure” that would cost $5 million. That’s sort of accurate but conveys the idea this is a new building. It’s really just a refurbishing of two parts of the Kahler addition: the open air sculpture garden in the middle will be given a roof, to end water seepage problems and eliminate the hole in Fitch Plaza, much of which sits on the roof of the Kahler. The renovation will also give  the building a new East face, a glassy atrium that will replace the old glass wall that has leakage problems and allows no entry for visitors.  As the price tag suggests, this is just a renovation of an existing building.

The art museum is at fault for repair problems: This misleading claim was made by county supervisor John Weishan, who released a press release suggesting the county could have spent money to fix the War Memorial if the art museum would “simply start paying its utility bills” for use of the structure. Weishan doesn’t know his history. The War Memorial was created in 1957 with the dual purpose of creating both a veterans memorial and a home for what was then known as the Milwaukee Art Center; indeed, the lakefront project was originally supposed to include a performing arts hall as well, which was moved to Water Street and is today known as the Marcus Center. The county pledged to maintain this home for the art museum but in the last decade has slashed its support by more than $400,000 annually, as the audit noted, leaving the museum to make up the difference.

The reality is the county is the landlord and has let the structure deteriorate. You can’t blame that on the tenant. As Keegan puts it, “if we are going to put $15 million into two buildings we don’t own, it’s time for us to assume the responsibility for the buildings.”

Separate management is needed for the War Memorial: The county audit blew holes in this theory, by noting the potential to consolidate staff at the War Memorial and museum who now separately handle maintenance and engineering, facility rentals, parking, marketing and events planning. It also raised questions about the War Memorial’s management, noting that its parking system was “antiquated,” lacked sufficient control over cash collected, and charged “below market” rates. Other than preserving Drent’s job, it’s not clear why the War Memorial needs separate management.

Moreover, it makes no sense for the War Memorial board to be overseeing the Marcus Center, Charles Allis Museum and Villa Terrace. All three entities have asked to end this unwieldy governance structure, and the move is long overdue.

The reality is that both the city’s foremost veteran’s memorial and the community’s collection of $1 billion in art is gravely threatened by the deterioration of the War Memorial and a governance structure that makes no sense. This is not about the veterans versus the arts, but about better serving both groups.

-If you missed the big battle of AlderBobs Donovan and Baumann, check out Jeramey’s amusing story on it. 

-And yes, I’ve joined the tweeting, twittering masses. You can follow my opinions at Twitter at BruceMurphyMKE.

Talgo Open House

The elegant Talgo trainsets ordered by the Doyle administration for the Amtrak Hiawatha are nearly complete. But will they ever be used?

Alas, Sunday is quite possibly the only day you will ever get to go inside them. Tours, children’s activities, and refreshments will be available at the Talgo assembly facility from noon until 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 20th. The facility is located in the Century City redevelopment area at 3533 North 27th Street. Off-site parking is available, with MCTS Routes 27 and 80 getting you there as well.

If you can’t make it Sunday, the trainsets are also currently visible from south side of the facility on W. Townsend Avenue between 27th and the railroad bridge.

Strategically ordered before federal high speed rail grants were announced, the purchase contract pushed Wisconsin to the top of the list and netted Wisconsin $810 million to extend the Hiawatha to Madison and buy more trainsets. Governor Walker’s campaign against the poorly marketed train resulted in the federal government re-appropriating the funds to other states.

The trainsets face an uncertain future following the State Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee decision to cancel funding for a permanent maintenance base for the equipment. It remains unclear if the state will put the trainsets into service utilizing the temporary maintenance base (the assembly facility), or mothball the trainsets once they’re complete (potentially violating their contract with Talgo).

Hopefully someday the trainsets will be in use in Wisconsin. Until then I’ll just shake my head at the insane series of decisions taken merely to score political points. I do look forward to seeing our former high-speed rail funds at work when I take the Amtrak Lincoln Service, a corridor being upgraded to higher speed rail, to St. Louis this summer.

Downtown Block Party

The parking lot between 4th and 5th streets on the south side of Wisconsin Ave will finally see some activity this summer thanks to a handful of groups working to change the way Wisconsin Avenue is perceived (starting with rebranding it the WAM District). First up is a tailgate party hosted by Pabst Theater and NEWaukee on May 25th that includes the live broadcast of a Milwaukee Brewers game. The Downtown Baseball Block Party has live music starting at 6:30, a live broadcast by the FSN broadcasting team, food trucks for those that don’t bring their own grills, and a cash bar. The fun will go until midnight. There is a Facebook event with more information.

Another event is planned for June 14th in conjunction the Milwaukee IndyFest race. The Milwaukee IndyFest Street Party will kick off the three-day event that culminates in an internationally televised IndyCar race at the Milwaukee Mile. The kickoff event will include a car show, House of Harley-Davidson parade, driver appearances, food trucks, and beer stations.

While I would have rather seen the proposed Catalyst development by the Ghazi Company occupying this parking lot, I’m thrilled to see groups programming the space for more than just parking. NEWaukee and the Pabst Theater have a history of drawing thousands of people to their events (Young Professional Week, Fish Fry and a Flick). Hopefully this is just the start of good things to come for Wisconsin Avenue.

Bike Use on Buses Doubles

A press release by the Milwaukee County Transit System shows bike use is growing by leaps and bounds. County buses transported 95,000 bicycles in all of 2011, but through April 30th of this year, over 29,000 bicycles were transported, more than double last year’s numbers through the same period (12,695). Whether it’s this year’s mild weather or increased awareness that is driving the increased usage, it’s encouraging to see ever more cyclists take advantage of the racks.

For more information on how to put utilize the racks, see the MCTS webpage and video Bikes on Buses.

Explore the Historic Concordia Neighborhood with Historic Milwaukee, Inc. on Saturday

Historic Milwaukee’s annual Spaces & Traces event features the Historic Concordia neighborhood this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with tours of 13 historically prominent residences and businesses in the near west side neighborhood. Tickets to the event are $25 , and $20 for HMI members and there’s a five dollar price increase if you wait till the the day of the event. Also included are a lecture by John Gurda about the architectural and cultural history of the neighborhood (at 11:00 a.m.), one by Alderman Bauman, a long-time neighborhood resident, on living in and representing the neighborhood (1 p.m.), and a special Miller Brewery tour (4 p.m.) More information is available on the Historic Milwaukee website.

HMI will also present Alderman Bob Bauman with the 31st annual Spaces & Traces Historic Preservation Award tonight at Fred’s Pub.

Kudos to HMI for their efforts in putting on the annual Spaces & Traces event, which allows for an up close look at Milwaukee’s history.

UWM Gains Zoning Approval for Columbia Hospital Redevelopment

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was granted a zoning change for the former Columbia Hospital that will allow the school to expand into the complex of buildings now known as the Northwest Quadrant (file #101472). The university acquired the complex in December 2010.  This change allows UWM to fully use the former hospital as part of the university campus. Various pieces of the complex are already in service given that they comply with existing zoning regulations (parking garage, coffee shop, and offices).

As part of the zoning change, UWM Chancellor Michael Lovell voluntarily agreed to cap the number of students living in the former Columbia College of Nursing building at 90 Honors students (UWM leased a portion of the building for student housing in the past). Should the university wish to expand the number of students living in the Honors College facility to 200 in the next ten years, the university will first seek a public hearing and advisory ruling by an appropriate City body. Prior to the end of the ten year period UWM will consult with the Mariner Neighborhood Association or any successor, and the appropriate City body to determine if the commitment should be extended. We have re-posted the statement from Chancellor Lovell for your convenience.

The only vote against the zoning change was cast by Alderman Bauman. Bauman wants to see UWM place student residences throughout the city instead of concentrating them on the Upper East Side campus.

I believe the growth of UWM as a top-tier university is good for the city as well as the school, and am happy to see a resolution was found to neighborhood concerns about the university’s expansion. If only this land could have been used for an engineering school, as opposed to a new campus being created in western Wauwatosa.

The Moderne Meeting Hiring Requirements

As part of the city financing package that went towards The Moderne, developer Rick Barrett (Barrett Visionary Development), general contractor J.H. Findorff & Son, and technical coordinator Prism Technical are required to meet certain Emerging Business Enterprise (EBE) and Residence Preference Program (RPP) requirements. To-date, The Moderne has complied with both. Through March 31st, EBE participants received 26 percent of the adjusted construction budget totaling approximately $4.5 million. Through February 29th, RPP participants logged 41,000 hours or 30.4 percent of on-site construction hours. Minimum requirements were 25 and 30 percent respectively.

This information was presented before the Zoning, Neighborhoods, & Development committee. Alderman Michael Murphy noted that “the project is ahead of schedule, under budget, and is a beautiful building.” Committee Chair Alderman Jim Bohl added “this has been a very big success, and we will continue to build off of it.”

More information is available in the report presented to the committee, or on the file in Legistar (#120016).

Kids Ride Free on Amtrak Hiawatha This Summer

Children ages 2 to 15 can ride free on the Amtrak Hiawatha on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between June 1st and August 26th. Up to two children can receive free tickets when accompanied by a paid full fare adult. To claim the offer use discount code V813.

I’ve written a column in the past asking for more creative pricing for the Hiawatha (Amtrak Should Innovate with Hiawatha Service Pricing). This is a step in the right direction.

Openings and Closings

If you’re looking for the Openings and Closings section of Eyes on Milwaukee, you will need to hold off for a few days. We’re spinning the section off into its own piece to debut in the next week.

Sydney Hih

The historic Sydney Hih building, which city officials had intended to tear down, may have been saved for another day, due to a legalistic maneuver by alderman and attorney Bob Baumann at a Tuesday meeting of the Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee.

As part of a joint city-county effort to bring Kohl’s corporate headquarters to downtown Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp., an affiliate of the City of Milwaukee, had quietly purchased the Sidney Hih, in order to ensure site control for the project. But Kohl’s decided not to move Downtown, and no other viable project has arisen for the site, yet the City recently issued an order to raze the Sydney Hih, seemingly sealing its fate.

So things stood when the Zoning committee took up the issue of an “obsolete” file (091436) that normally would have been summarily dismissed. The file was a citizen’s request to save the Sidney Hih, filed back in February, 2009, and approved by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.

Jim Owczarski, City of Milwaukee Clerk, explained that the historic preservation ordinance required the council to act within two years of an application for preservation, and that the two years had already passed, making the file obsolete, and eliminating that impediment to razing the Sidney Hih. But Alderman Bauman objected, noting that the Zoning committee had acted to hold the file back in the Spring of 2010, which effectively “tolled” the process and stopped the clock from continuing to run on the historic preservation proposal.

Given the differing viewpoints on the status of the file being offered by the City Clerk and Bauman, Ald. Michael Murphy made a motion to hold the file, keeping the issue open. The committee approved the motion.

Frankly, by the time the Committee concluded its business the status of the file, and the Sydney Hih wasn’t entirely clear.

State Senator Van Wanggaard

Is there any member of the Wisconsin legislature whose stand on public unions is more vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy than state Sen. Van Wanggaard of Racine? As a member of the Republican majority, Wanggaard has backed all the measures to cut back union rights and compensation. But prior to becoming a legislator, Wanggaard served nearly three decades as a police officer and several years as a union board member, who helped negotiate higher benefits for employees like himself.

Wangaard downplays his union roots: his 2010 campaign bio was quite long and detailed, but omitted any mention of his union jobs. He was a Racine police officer from 1972-2001, earning lifetime health insurance and a fine pension. After serving 29 years, he would have earned around 62 percent of his final average salary, which for a Traffic Investigator (his last position with the department), would have been in the neighborhood of $54,000, an insider with the Racine Police Department estimated. That would put Wanggaard’s annual pension at around $33,000. In an interview, Wanggaard conceded this was an accurate estimate.

Wanggaard is now double dipping from the government, earning $49,943 as a legislator plus $88 “per diem” for each day the legislature is in session. (The average legislator earns an additional $7,700 per year from this.) He could also earn an additional pension, but this would require him to freeze his retiree pay and Wanggaard says he preferred to continue collecting on his pension, so he is forgoing all state benefits that accrue to legislators.

All told, Wanggaard has done well as a government worker. Yet he supported Act 10, which cut back such benefits for the many public workers in Wisconsin. Wanggaard says he actually worked closely with Gov. Scott Walker to modify the bill and make its language less draconian. “I looked at the original bill and said ‘oh my goodness,’” he says. Whatever changes Wanggaard championed, the final legislation has put many public worker unions out of business.

“A lot of people saw that as a betrayal of his union roots,” says Randolph Brandt, a retired Racine Journal Times editor who helped lead the Committee to Recall Wanggaard. Brandt wrote an impassioned op ed for his old newspaper accusing Wanggaard of “laughing at…the citizens of Racine” and imploring voters to recall Wanggaard and punish him for “his hypocrisy.” Yep, you can be a lot more hyberbolic once you’ve retired from the newspaper biz.

Wanggaard has called the measures to trim worker benefits and collective bargaining “reforms that are working and saving taxpayers money.”  As to Brandt’s claim that his stance today is hypocritical, Wanggaard says its a different time, and the era of double digit increases in health insurances requires governments to rein in costs. Still, that’s a curious stance from someone who has lifetime, government-paid health insurance.

Wangaard’s old police union is endorsing his opponent John Lehman. According to Todd Hoover, president of the Racine Police Association,  their decision came because Wanggard favored measures that have restricted collective bargaining for police, and because Wanggaard’s support for reduced revenue sharing to cities will result in layoffs of police officers. When Wanggard was a police officer, Hoover says, “we had some pretty decent benefits. Now they’re disintegrating.”

Wanggaard is one of four state senators facing a recall this June, and his district is the one where Democrats have the best chance of scoring a victory. Lehman, who had held the district for one term (2006-2010), lost a close race to Wanggaard, who took office in 2011.  This has been a swing district that is fairly evenly divided: in 2010 Walker carried it with 54 percent of the vote, but in 2008 John McCain won just 44 percent of the vote against Barack Obama. A Democratic poll by Public Policy Polling, taken in mid April, showed a statistical dead heat, with Wanggaard at 48 percent and Lehman at 46 percent. (The margin of error was nearly 4 percent.)

One reason Lehman is running stronger than other recall challengers is because he has by far the strongest support among Democrats. The PPP poll showed he had the support of 86 percent of Democrats in the district, suggesting a very polarized race.

There’s been little coverage of the campaign, mostly some reporting by Fox 6 in Milwaukee, which hasn’t touched on Wanggaard’s background as a union rep. But that issue has certainly been bubbling up in Racine.

Lehman has accused Walker and the Republicans of “rewarding the rich” while “union-busting.” He calls Wanggaard’s policies “extreme.” Wanggaard told Fox TV that “John wants to expand everything and he wants to go back to the failed policies that he was a partial architect of with the Doyle budget before.”

Wanggaard has so far raised more campaign donations — about $151,000, compared to nearly $104,000 for Lehman (of which $11,300 came from unions). If money is the measure of who will win the June elections, it could be a big day for Republicans.

Eyes on Milwaukee

This week’s Eyes on Milwaukee column explores Herb Kohl’s commitment to a new arena, the idea of another downtown strip club, Northwestern Mutual’s potential new downtown building, and a whole lot more.

Herb Kohl’s Arena Commitment

At his annual end of the season press conference, team owner Herb Kohl announced his commitment to helping finance a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks. Kohl got a lot of attention for committing to help finance a new arena, but avoided getting into details. It’s important to note that even though new stadiums are often built with substantial public investment, the teams themselves often contribute to the facility. This is no more clear than in Minnesota, where the Minnesota Vikings’ team share is one of the hot button issues for their new facility.

While Kohl said his commitment would be “not insignificant,” it’s unreasonable to hold our breath assuming he’ll pay for the majority of a new facility himself. Milwaukee got lucky once with Jane and Lloyd Pettit paying for the entire Bradley Center (with the hope of landing an NHL team – which is part of the reason the facility has so quickly become outdated), but it’s pretty clear that won’t happen again.

For a point of reference on current arena costs, the newest arena in the NBA, the Amway Center in Orlando, cost $480 million. I would guess a new facility in Milwaukee would cost less than that, but it’s not going to come in under $100 million like the Bradley Center did.

All in all, the most significant thing Herb Kohl did is start the public push for a new arena. We should expect whomever owns the Bucks to contribute to the costs of a new arena. That said, Kohl’s move of publicly announcing his commitment was certainly a shrewd public relations move.

We will certainly discuss this topic at length in the future. We’ve even in the past discussed tearing down the Bradley Center for a new facility.

A Second Downtown Milwaukee Strip Club

Silk owner Jon Ferraro is back with another license application for a strip club on Old World Third Street. He is applying at the same location he previously applied at, 730 N. Old World Third St., Of note, Jon Ferraro’s lawsuit against the city regarding his previous application for a strip club in this space (in 2010) is still pending. I assume the two are related, and I’m pretty sure we will find out soon how.

It’s important to note that if granted, Silk East would be the second strip club downtown. Art’s Performing Center is located at 144 E. Juneau Ave. Although only garnering 1 and a half stars on Yelp, Art’s clearly hasn’t damaged the image of downtown, and there isn’t any reason to believe Silk East would either. Aspiring to be like downtown Minneapolis and its numerous strip clubs on the other hand, that’s a bad idea.

Northwestern Mutual’s Possible New Downtown Building Staying Quiet

The Quiet Company has succeeded in keeping their development of a new facility to house hundreds of employees quiet. As a reminder, Northwestern Mutual announced in September of 2011 that they would demolish the 16-story brown office building located on the southeast corner of Mason and Cass streets because of looming long-term maintenance costs. In December it was announced they would buy the building located at 733 N. Van Buren Street from Joel Lee’s Van Buren Building Co, with the intent to close on the purchase in 2012 and move employees in 2013. The newly acquired building, formerly home of Cramer-Krasselt, was assessed at $4,502,000 in 2011.

Will the company stay and keep this batch of employees downtown? That remains to be seen, as the firm indicated they’re looking at their options for a new building downtown (where it currently has employees 3,000) or relocating the employees to the Franklin campus (2,000 existing employees). With the failure of Mayor Barrett to fit a square peg into a round hole by getting Kohl’s to move to the Park East, expect the city to throw everything they can at Northwestern Mutual to make sure their new building is downtown.

If the City fails to land the new building it will be quite ironic to see the Downtown Transit Center redeveloped while Northwestern Mutual replaces their 500,000 square foot building with a parking lot or empty park.

Facade Repair

Jeff Sherman notes the new “facade” given to the covered buildings on the 600 block of N. Broadway, just south of Wisconsin Ave. The buildings were formerly covered by an ugly wood facade, but it’s now painted to resemble resemble a building. While the new “facade” is a significant improvement, it’s a shame it took years to come together, and a real tenant would certainly be far more desired.

Sherman noted the new Marriott Hotel under construction a block away, but even more appreciative of the improvement to this empty building are likely the owners of the Hilton Garden Inn. The hotel, which is under construction on the same block, will occupy the rehabbed Loyalty Building. The website for the Hilton Garden Inn is now online.

As far as facade upgrades in the area go, the pair of buildings around the corner on Wisconsin Ave take the cake for an improvement (all part of the same parcel as the hidden the Broadway buildings). Ultimately though, all are a hollow effort until actual tenants move in.

For what it’s worth I’m also eager to see renovations get underway to improve the Iron Block Building at the corner of Water and Wisconsin. The Iron Block Building is one of the historic buildings that help give downtown Milwaukee its charming character.

Development News

The Milwaukee County Transportation, Public Works, and Transit Committee unanimously authorized the Director of the Department of Transportation to declare surplus and offer for sale the Downtown Transit Center today. This move keeps the redevelopment of the Downtown Transit Center on track. The authorization will now go before the full Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. Of note, the proceeds from the sale of the land will need to go for capital projects for transit in Milwaukee County, not for operating funds.

Openings and Closings

Cafe Centraal is expanding east. The Lowlands Group restaurant will occupy the space immediately to its east on E. Lincoln Ave that formerly housed an acupuncture and massage therapy business.

City.Net Cafe is coming soon to E. Wisconsin Avenue just east of Broadway. The original City.Net Cafe is open at 7211 W. Burgleigh Street. The website for the existing cafe is CityNetJazz.com, not City.Net. The cafe is owned by Sam Belton.

The Dogg House on Jefferson Street will be short-lived, at least for now. At the first regular meeting of the Licenses Committee during the current Milwaukee Common Council session, owner Mazen Muna was informed that he has likely been operating illegally (despite his understanding that the Health Dept had cleared his operation). Muna currently operates four other locations within the City of Milwaukee. This only goes to show how the City’s licensing process is at times quite confusing and ripe for overhaul. As of lunch today, the restaurant is still open presumably using some form of double jeopardy defense.

Greek Village Gyros intends to open at 1888 N. Humboldt Ave. the location was formerly home to Meglio Pizzeria. The registered agent on the liquor license application is George Dimitropoulos.

O’Lydia’s Bar and Grill, 338 S. 1st Street (formerly Slim McGinn’s), is opening an art gallery on its second floor. OnMilwaukee has more.

Rumor Lounge, an upscale lounge, has had their liquor license approved at Monday’s Licenses Committee meeting. The lounge will open at the corner of Pittsburgh Avenue and 1st Street in Vetter Denk’s headquarters (161 South 1st Street).

The Twisted Fisherman Crab Shack also had their liquor license approved at Monday’s Licenses Committee meeting. The Crab Shack is the latest venture from Russ Davis and will open in a converted warehouse in the Menomonee Valley. Davis also has operated Rio West Cantina, Lakefront Brewery Palm Garden, Riverwalk Boat Tours and the Hubbard Park Lodge. He formerly operated Cafe Vecchio and later The Red Accordian in the space currently occupied by The Loaded Slate.

Eyes on Milwaukee

The 11th installment of Eyes on Milwaukee focuses on transit, development, and new restaurants. The Downtown Transit Center’s redevelopment is inching closer to reality. The Milwaukee Museum Mile is a new marketing effort for some overlooked museums. Service reductions are coming to the Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha commuter bus service. Lower East Side residents are getting a glimpse of what a modern bus system could entail, and the Milwaukee City Clerk is still tweeting, thankfully.

Downtown Transit Center Redevelopment Moving Along, Proposals Received

The long overdue redevelopment of the Downtown Transit Center is moving along. I’ve advocated for this redevelopment before, as the Downtown Transit Center is located on the lakefront, not the center of town, and is used as a bus staging area, not a major transfer point. Most recently, the deadline for proposals past and Milwaukee County announced their were “a handful” of submissions, which was what the County expected given the scale of the project.

What did the submissions include? A high-rise apartment tower, hotel, and mixed public-private uses. What should you think about this? Most importantly, avoid judging a book by its cover. At this point, the financial details of the projects aren’t publicly available, and it’s impossible for an outsider to assess the viability of any of the proposals. It is, however, encouraging that proposals have come back.

The next step in the process will take place in front of the Milwaukee County Transportation, Public Works, and Transit Committee on May 9th, 2012, where the Director of the Department of Transportation (former WisDOT head Frank Busalacchi) is requesting authorization to declare the facility surplus and offer it for sale.

Milwaukee Museum Mile

Five Milwaukee museums, that are too often overlooked, have banded together to create the Milwaukee Museum Mile. The Jewish Museum Milwaukee, Charles Allis Art Museum, Museum of Wisconsin Art at St. John’s On The Lake, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum and North Point Lighthouse at Lake Park all will be part of the marketing effort, which kicks off this weekend. Sunday, May 6th, admission will be free to all of the museums between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Light refreshments and shuttle service will be provided, but if it’s a nice day out I suggest walking between the museums. All of the museums are located either on Prospect Avenue or a few blocks East.

I’m happy to see this collaborative marketing effort, and I hope it succeeds. When many think of museums in Milwaukee they think of the Milwaukee Art Museum, then the Milwaukee Public Museum, maybe Discovery World and the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, and that’s it. Milwaukee has far more than that, and it’s time those institutions band together to draw more attention.

Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha Commuter Bus Service Cuts Coming

Due to the wording in the recent Wisconsin state budget and subsequent cuts in state and federal funding, a 10 to 15% reduction in service is coming to the Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha commuter bus service. The route currently links UWM, Milwaukee Intermodal Station, General Mitchell Airport, downtown Milwaukee, Oak Creek, Caledonia, Carthage College, Racine and Kenosha including bus stations and the Metra train station, with several additional stops along the route. The service is scheduled to be reduced from eight to seven trips per weekday.

Under the recently rebid contract, Wisconsin Coach Lines, the only respondent, will continue to operate the service. The line, which is administered by the City of Racine, received $715,000 in state and federal aid last year. The commuter bus service will begin serving UW-Parkside for at least two trips a day as part of the service changes. Parkside is currently not linked to Racine by bus after a route was eliminated in 2006.

In a related change, the line will no longer connect to UWM starting May 20th, and will instead terminate at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station.

The Racine Transit Commission has scheduled a hearing on the changes on May 16th, at 4:30 P.M. at Racine City Hall.

Better Bus Service Temporarily for Lower East Side

Due to construction along Oakland Avenue between North Avenue and Brady Street, Lower East Side bus riders are getting a taste of what a better version of Milwaukee’s express bus service could be like. The new MetroEXpress Green Line (Bayshore to the Airport) has been temporarily rerouted onto the one-way pair of Farwell and Prospect Avenues while Oakland is closed. The route 30, which operates on the pair is sharing select stops with the Green Line. This presents riders at many stops with two options to get downtown with a bus roughly every five minutes to get downtown. While the increase in service at individual stops is certainly welcome, the express service isn’t much faster than the standard service provided by the 30 route.

The “express” Green Line is the product of the use federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds by Milwaukee County to plug a continually deteriorating Milwaukee County Transit System budget. Stops were removed to make the service comply with CMAQ funding standards, but not enough to make the service significantly faster than the previous Route 15. This was done to avoid a significant reduction in service as the standard service currently operating where much of the new service was deployed was eliminated.

In an ideal world, with a well-funded bus transit system, express service with stops approaching every half-mile would operate on much the same route as standard service with stops every eighth of a mile with both services having frequent headways. This would help draw increased ridership, provide more frequent and faster service to many, and enabled infrastructure investment and transit-oriented development around key stops. While not completely delivering, the detour at the least gives Lower East Side riders a glimpse of what could be.

New Milwaukee City Clerk Still Tweeting

Jim Owczarski is still tweeting, albeit from a different account. The new Milwaukee City Clerk is continuing his live tweeting of City of Milwaukee Common Council meetings at his new account @MKEClerk. I had speculated about this in a prior Eyes on Milwaukee column.

Development News

There are only a few more days to get your team together to purchase the failed Residences on Water – Staybridge Suites hotel development. As previously mentioned the auction will take place May 8th at the Milwaukee Athletic Club.

The law firm, which is currently in the 411 Building on Wisconsin Ave, is exploring other space options in east end of downtown.   At the very least, Quarles & Brady is attempting to get a better deal on their lease. At the most, they are seeking to move their sign to the top of a new office tower. That said, there aren’t any other buildings in the area that have the space available to house the firm. Will the dormant Washington Square Tower proposal, which was dealt a setback when Baker Tilley signed a lease to move to the US Bank Center, be the future home of Quarles? Or could they end up in another new building?  BizTimes has more.

Downtown condo sales rose 122% year-over-year in April according to the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors. After all was said and done, 51 units changed hands in April of 2012. Andrew Weiland has more.

The raze order is up on the Sydney Hih building.

Openings and Closings

The Boardroom is now open at 628 N. Water Street. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Boone and Crocket, from the creators of the East Side’s Hotel Foster, hopes to be open by May. The bar will be located at 2151 S. Kinnickinic Avenue. Both spaces are owned by Doug Williams, Mike Kempka, and John Revord.

c.1880 (pronounced “circa 1880) has opened in Walker’s Point. The new restaurant at 1100 S. 1st Street is led by Chef Thomas Hauck.

The Fast Foodie has some new bikes to compliment their food trailer.

Roots is closed temporarily as some spring renovations take place.

The former Sil’s Mini Donut Shop won’t be closed for long. It was unusual that the building’s owner declined to renew their lease, and now we know why. The owners of Chubby Cheesesteaks, located a stone’s throw away, will open The Drive-Thru in the space. Molly Snyder reports they will sell Alterra coffee, hotdogs, sloppy joes, and “the exact same” mini donuts. Sil’s had quite the long line on Sunday, their last day in business at the North Ave location.

Sven’s Downtown has quietly opened. The second location for the cafe is located at 624 N Water Street

Photo of the Week

Wisconsin Ave. & 27th St. Rendering

WIS27 LLC’s proposal to develop a 64,000 SF office building at the corner of 27th Street and Wisconsin Avenue was approved by the Milwaukee Common Council today.  WIS27 will purchase the vacant lot from the city for $1, and intends to lease the new building to the State of Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.

The $10 million project has been heavily debated within City Hall, as the design deterred the ability for tenants of the building to interact with the street.  Previously, there were no operable doors along the building, and all access to the building was to be through the secure parking lot, creating the potential for a dead zone along Wisconsin Ave. and 27th St.  As Alderman Bauman emphatically stated numerous times during a committee discussion on the project, “[it] basically violates every urban design principal that this city has been advocating for the last 20 years”.  Despite these concerns the city, led by Department of City Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux, pushed to accept the proposal.

At that meeting Alderman Bauman was successful in holding the project to allow for more time for the city to work with WIS27 to incorporate changes that would better facilitate the building’s interaction with the street.  At meeting held just before today’s Common Council meeting, new designs by Korb Tredo Architects were approved despite earlier insistence by the development team and Marcoux that no new changes were possible.  Although, the building still lacks access on 27th Street, the Wisconsin Avenue entrance was enhanced for future use, and a 26th Street door was made operable.  With these improvements in place the proposal was approved.

You could be hanging out just below the US Bank sign on Monday of next week. Learn more below.

Welcome to the eighth installment of Eyes on Milwaukee. This week I invite you to a handful of Urban Milwaukee events, challenge you to name the new river skimmer, and share a fair amount of development news and information about new restaurants in Milwaukee.

Future of Transit Discussion and Cocktail Hour at the top of the US Bank Center

If you care about transit in Milwaukee, or if you simply want the best view of the city available, come to the 40th floor of the US Bank Center next Monday night, April 16th from 5:30 until 8:00.  The event will include a discussion on the future of transit in Milwaukee and how we move through the city.

Preceding the panel discussion will be a cocktail hour with a view (complete with a cash bar and some appetizers). The event will be held in the offices of Foley & Lardner on the 40th floor of the US Bank Center, the tallest building in Wisconsin.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Alex Runner, with panelists Alderman Robert Bauman, Alderman Nik Kovac, and myself. It will primarily focus on the Milwaukee Streetcar project, but there will be ample time for the  audience to ask questions.

More details in our previous article.

Urban Milwaukee Store Grand Opening and Gallery Night

If you’re looking for something to do Friday, April 20th, look no further. We’re having a grand opening party at Urban Milwaukee: The Store in conjunction with Gallery Night. Come join us at the store anytime between 10 a.m. and midnight. Take the “art tunnel” through the back of our store to Sublime between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. for happy hour drinks and appetizers.

Urban Milwaukee: The Store is located at 755 N. Milwaukee St and sells paintings, photography, t-shirts, postcards, books, and more, all of which showcase Milwaukee, and are made by Milwaukeeans. If you needed more convincing, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel art and architecture critic Mary Louse Schumacher also recommends you stop by.

Learn more about the store or RSVP on the Facebook event.

Name the River Skimmer

The river skimmer, MMSD’s mostly anonymous weapon that keeps the rivers around Milwaukee looking clean, is set to be replaced with a new boat.  In addition to that,  MMSD has partnered with The City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Downtown BID #21, The Milwaukee Riverwalk District, Inc., BID #15, Veolia Water Milwaukee and OnMilwaukee.com to give the new vessel a name. The new vessel will use one-third less fuel and will be able to collect twice as much debris.

Development News

The building that formerly housed Bella’s Fat Cat restaurant in Bay View, 2737 S. Kinnickinnic Ave, has been sold. SK Management LLC has purchased the building and is “maybe putting a Mexican restaurant” in the space, according to registered agent Shirley Konopski.

The “world’s largest Qdoba” may not hold that unofficial title much longer. The 14-story Residences on Water, also known as Milwaukee’s largest unfinished building or the Staybridge Suites building, is set to be auctioned off at 10 a.m. on May 8th at the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Two firms are likely to bid. You can find a number of photos of the almost empty building on Flickr.

Four thousand and six students, or roughly 14.6% of the UWM student body, turned out for a referendum on a new student union. Seventy-two percent voted to approve the construction of a new student union, which will raise tuition $70 per semester starting in 2013, and $282 per semester in 2018, until 2034.

Lindsey Bovinet, CEO of Interior Systems, Inc., has made an offer to purchase the Eisner Building at 200 N. Water Street. The space might be used to host the Creative Alliance of Milwaukee. The building was formerly home to the Eisner American Museum of Advertising & Design which closed in 2010. The building also recently housed MIAD’s residence hall, which relocated to 1824 Park Place until the college is able to fund the construction of its new residence hall in the Historic Third Ward.

Sean Ryan does one of his Take 5 interviews with Juli Kaufmann

Openings and Closings

Arin-Bert, a coffee shop, has opened at 222 W. Wells Street. The space formerly housed Finch’s Corned Beef, Five Dollar Deli, Philly Way, Wingz, and Amazon Pizza.

FLAVOR Cycle, a new bicycle-based food delivery service, has started delivering food to much of the city’s urban core. You might recognize the delivery bikers as some of the same people that make up Milwaukee’s bicycle couriers.

Nehring’s Family Market, owned by Anne and John Nehring, will open in the Milwaukee Public Market. The Nehring’s also operate Nehring’s Sendik’s in Shorewood and G. Groppi Food Market in Bay View.

The Philly Way, billed as “The East Side’s answer to a ‘REAL’ Philly Cheese Steak,” will open at 1330 E. Brady Street in the former Miss Groove space. The Philly Way already has a location at 405 S. 2nd street.

Sphinx Coffee, located at 1751 N. Farwell Ave, appears to be closed. For a number of weeks the space, which expanded into the former PJ’s Original Subs and Clubs space in the past year, had a sign claiming electrical difficulties were the reason for its closure. Now a for lease sign adorns the coffee shop formerly operated by Mona’s Restaurants. Mona’s Turkish Shawarma House, also part of Mona’s Restaurants and located across Farwell at 1814 N. Farwell Ave, remains open.

Yo Factory, despite apparent trouble with power, is now accepting applications. They also posted a photo of a WE Energies truck on site a few hours ago, another good sign. Hopefully frozen yogurt will be served soon at 2203 N. Farwell Ave.

Food truck lovers rejoice; Take Out Tuesday is back at Schlitz Park and Food Truck Thursdays are back at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

Zaafaran, a Thai and Indian restaurant at 780 N. Jefferson Street, has closed after a little less than a year in business. The restaurant was owned and operated by Manoj Tiwari and Neeta Tiwari.

Photo of the Week

Uninvited Silence by CJ Schmit