Friday Photos
Arena Rises from Frozen Tundra
Snow and freezing weather didn't delay construction of the new Milwaukee Bucks arena.
Get a daily rundown of the top stories on Urban Milwaukee
Snow and freezing weather didn't delay construction of the new Milwaukee Bucks arena. Back to the full article.
Photos - Page 4
Merry X-mas to the billionaires whose place of business WE are paying for. Good job selling us out, Mr. Mayor and Alder-people.
While this is interesting toy, for the downtowners, crime is rising, education is going downhill, heroin epidemic is horrible, plus many more problems.
How many people from the suburbs attend Bucks home games WCD? A lot. People from WOW counties go to tons of Bucks games every year. Are you saying no city in America should have nice things unless every problem is solved to your satisfaction?
Many cities manage to do a much better job at doing both.
And many cities don’t, and either way WCD is arguing that nothing should happen in Milwaukee unless it directly and exclusively addresses schools, crime, or heroin (which is at least as much of a suburban and rural problem).
I didn’t read that in his comment.
Have you been here long John? I have. He’s been saying it for a long time now. Milwaukee shouldn’t do anything until it solves those three issues. He’s a broken record, and a lunatic.
I was about to commend Jeramey here for his commitment to fact-based journalism, as exhibited in this story, when the first comment I encountered was from …
I think WCD should be forced to pay 80% of his earned income on housing and then be told to work harder and it will all be ok.
Yes, Milwaukee County is just one of the many metro areas that pour mega-millions into subsidizing sports complexes that virtually all economists agree provide no net economic benefit (which our alders acknowledged). However, Milwaukee also gave team owners a whole lot of free publicly-owned land to exploit. In contrast, Boston is selling a city-owned lot with a vacant parking garage for $153 million.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/12/12/the-trouble-with-winthrop-square/lOKlmhOg1KBOErWx1VffNP/story.html
Park East land was well on the path to redevelopment at the pace that Mayor Norquist and Peter Park had predicted. It started east and moved westward (even despite the Great Recession). Getting fair-market value for that land would have gone a long way toward filling county and city budget holes.
I am from.our of state and honestly didn’t even know the Bucks were even still in the league. Big waste of money.
WCD seems to forget that the plan that finally came about was pushed by the Walker cabal, because it doesn’t impose taxes on the wealthy, white, suburban constituents who are the only ones who will be able to afford to attend games.
Milwaukee is falling apart and yet the City is still giving away the house! Disgrace
I wonder how the comments in the section would have read if instead this Friday Photos was of a still vacant Park East Corridor and a soon to be vacant Bradley Center.
The nattering nabobs of negativity come out in full force. Let me ask you the following:
1. Would you prefer the Bucks had left and MKE’s remaining teams played in a rapidly deteriorating arena that would need between $100-$150M in renovations to remain usable for another 10 years? Keep in mind, that would have been WCD money as well, and more than 50% of the arena public funds with no benefit.
2. The Park East Development was picking up – but it has rapidly accelerated since the Bucks announcement. The clinic is a genius option, and the Live Block is certainly better than the BC parking lot. Plus – it connects the arena to OW 3rd Street. We have hotel proposals, the streetcar is going to run past the arena before turning northwards onto MLK. Do you honestly see a problem with taking acres of previously undeveloped or underdeveloped land off-line, while driving up demand in other areas of downtown?
3. WCD, you are a pathetic troll who needs a life. Milwaukee is doing better than it has in decades, experiencing its first population increase in decades, and witnessing an unprecedented boom in construction. And yet, that start isnt enough for you? Either you want ALL or NOTHING. That’s not how it works.
4. All you suburbanites complaining about funding billionaires…almost all arenas are done this way now. The BC was a one time gift that MKE was lucky to get. Moreover, I don’t see any of you complaining about the billions in road construction that traffic studies show MKE doesn’t NEED. Yet, you try to shoot down an alternative transit system that is certainly long past due even though you wouldn’t even have to pay for it unless you ride it. Even if you’re too stupid to realize it, Brookfield doesn’t exist without Milwaukee. So stop actively going against Milwaukee. You’d be amazed what a little collaboration can do…
@David Post 14, would go something like “stupid liberals are worthless and are letting this land sit fallow. If only Republicans were in charge it would have all been sold and have huge highrises built already. Better yet, we shouldn’t have torn down the Park East, instead we should have rebuilt and expanded it and we’d be much better off!”.
So some nonsense like that.
Billion dollar highways = good. Million dollar transit system = bad. Suburban development = great. Urban development, particularly with Democratic leadership = bad. Does that sum it up pretty well too?
The arena deal was very bipartisan. The Bucks just used the standard threaten-to-leave-town playbook. It worked like a charm. Bruce Murphy tried to tally the growing taxpayer tab and the “liberal” New York Times called foul.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/15/sports/bucks-new-owners-get-house-warming-gift-of-public-money.html
Mohammed, as for the very effective road-builders’ lobby, plenty of people on UM and elsewhere have complained about highway overbuilding. Politico published an an excellent analysis:
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/07/transportation-infrastructure-scott-walker-highways-000153
Both cases are examples of how massive lobbying has paid off Big Time. Anyone advocating for other needs simply cannot compete.
Personally, I’d rather keep an NBA team which helps build Milwaukee’s international brand, spurs development and contributes to a more vibrant Milwaukee with some of my tax dollars. Maybe Arenas aren’t the best investment, but shoveling another $100M+ into the BC would be a disaster. I am more than okay with a couple of NY Billionaires getting a handout if it contributes to billions more in ancillary development which would have not happened otherwise. I am not okay with building roads for non-existent traffic problems at the expense of other more pressing infrastructure issues. If that’s hypocritical, so be it. But I really find it troubling how powerful the road construction lobby is in WI, because there are serious repurcussions that will last decades.
Re: “I am more than okay with a couple of NY Billionaires getting a handout if it contributes to billions more in ancillary development which would have not happened otherwise.”
Mohammed: Not even the Bucks’ exaggerated claims promised “billions more in ancillary development.” For taxpayers’ investment, it’s unlikely there will even be a break-even of $400 million plus other subsidies. Many people hatching that deal may not be around when the payoffs (or lack of them) are tallied. Or even when some new “entertainment” businesses open on 4th Street and maybe other ones nearby close. I just hope the giveaways to billionaires are done and that the city will actually see ANY actual returns beyond NBA “bragging rights”–such as they are.
Native, the Bucks are part of the Milwaukee brand. For right or wrong, the NBA is the MOST popular of American leagues internationally, and probably second only to the English Premier League globally. It’s hard to say what the actual value is, but having an NBA team is extremely important from a global branding standpoint. Having been throughout Europe, people knew of Milwaukee because of a) the Bucks first and foremost, b) Beer (and that’s only those who know PBR and Miller), and c) Jeffrey Dahmer (unfortunately). This arena is already yielding interest and the promise of substantial development. Heard the news about the 4th and WI lot? This is a big piece of the puzzle, a piece that has helped the odds of the MSO buying the Warner Theater or turning around GA.
Given that the Park East has been an eyesore for a decade plus, the impact of turning this sea of vacant lots into valuable real estate is worth it alone. Driving by the BC, my wife and her friends actually asked if there had been a massive fire that destroyed that section of downtown…And the $400M, again I contrast this with highway construction which many experts say is completely unneeded and just filling the pockets of Walker’s cronies. If I’m wrong I’m wrong, but the tax impact per capita for the arena is pretty minimal. It’s perhaps a month’s worth of coffee – and again, more cost effective than simply rehabbing the BC which was the other option (and one that would only buy it 5-10 more years…).