Milwaukee’s newest trendy neighborhood is likely to become one of its best, and almost certainly its greenest. The Brewery, an environmentally sensitive restoration and adaptation of historic structures among the decaying wreckage of the former Pabst Brewing Company, is already home to striking residential lofts, a great beer hall, a range of offices, Cardinal Stritch University City Center, and a small urban park.

Bein’ green might not be that easy for Kemit, but for some development projects it seems all to easy “bein’ green.” In fact it seems easy to be Silver, Gold, or even Platinum, “Green,” or in this case LEED certified.

LEED certification takes into account a number of green practices and technologies. These might include the re-use of materials, utilizing renewable energy sources, the use of energy efficient windows and lighting, weatherization, grey water systems, and numerous other items all of which are a great step towards being green. But missing from LEED certification seems to be a key component of actually bein’ green.

Would Milwaukee be better off with the Park East Freeway spur intact? No. Has development been slow so far? Yes. Is that a problem? Only if you have a short-term perspective on the future of Milwaukee.

Regardless of what neighborhood it is, the development of new apartments is a growing trend in Milwaukee. Currently there are two prominent projects vying for City of Milwaukee financial support in one form or another, the Bookends and The Moderne. Outside of the two proposed towers there are numerous other projects at various stages around urban Milwaukee.

The recently opened Zilber Park is a functional, and useful shared feature of The Brewery project. This park might not strike many people as a park in the Milwaukee sense of the word, meaning it has lots of grass and trees, but this is a creatively designed urban park that respects its location and creates an outdoor space ready for activation.

In response to the announcement of the failing of The Residences of Palomar, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran an editorial talking about the idea of building a temporary park in the Park East land reclaimed from the former freeway spur. The idea is a bad one.

Milwaukee should explore how land sales are managed in order to achieve the highest and best use. If Milwaukee can become better at converting land from public and vacant to private and developed it will only be a benefit to the entire city by building a better urban fabric and raising the city tax base.

This Historic Preservation Commission (“HPC”) meeting included agenda items for the high profile projects, The Palomar, The Brewery and the Goll Mansion redevelopment.

Original plans for the Palomar project involved the redevelopment of the Sydney Hih building as part of a new Kimpton Hotel. Over time these plans have changed and now Gatehouse Capitol and Ruvin Development intend to demolish the buildings to a develop new a 22-story building.

Over the past couple of years I have followed the redevelopment of the former Pabst Brewery intently. The project is under the control of Joseph Zilber, who is taking each building determined salvageable and getting it into the hands of another developer who will fully redevelop the building.

Milwaukee Skyline Originally uploaded by compujeramey
Milwaukee County intends to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for a Park East corridor plot of land on the western end of the reclaimed land, near the former Pabst brewery.
With developments finally getting off the ground on formerly RFP’ed [...]