Reed Street Yards Redevelopment Funds Approved at Committee

At the November 22nd, 2011  meeting of the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee funds for the construction of new infrastructure within the Reed Street Yards were approved.   The 17-acre property, known as the Reed Street Yards, is located between South 6th Street and South 3rd Street, and has been targeted by the City of Milwaukee and the Water Council as the future center of Milwaukee’s water industry.  The project will be broken into two phases and include the construction of public improvements such as the $3.6 million extension of Pittsburgh Ave., new water mains, new sewer connections, 2,700 feet of Riverwalk, an extension of the Hank Aaron State Trail, 300 feet of dock wall that is in need of being repaired, and site remediation.

The financing for this project comes from TID #75, which was created in 2009 for this very purpose.  The funds to payback the TIF, will be generated through the redevelopment of a 88,000 square foot warehouse at 3rd St. and Pittsburgh Ave.  This building will become the home of the Water Council, and will house research facilities for Badger Meter and A. O. Smith, a $500,000 lab paid for by Badger Meter that will be available for tenants use, space for startup water businesses, a Viola water, energy, and transportation accelerator, UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences, and a multitude of other entities in the water field.  According to Dean Amhaus, Water Council Executive Director, this combination of public-private partnership, in combination with startup space and the lab will make the this a “one of a kind building, from a global standpoint”.