Lisa Braun

Lisa Braun. Photo courtesy of NEWaukee.

Where do you work and what makes your role awesome?

Zilber Ltd. where I’m responsible for the leasing of our office and retail portfolio as well as business development for our Zilber Property Group brand. The awesome part of my role has been seeing Mr. Zilber’s vision for the redevelopment of the former Pabst Brewery become a reality and working with the amazing people that helped to create that legacy.

How long have you lived in Milwaukee and what brought you here?

I’m proud to be born and raised in Milwaukee. With the exception of college, I’ve lived within 10 minutes of downtown my entire life. I remember growing up and wanting to leave so badly, but now I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

What do you love most about Milwaukee?

Summer! Don’t you just love how the entire city is infectiously happy and gets out to enjoy the first nice day outside after our long winter? Love that, along with the awesome permanent and traveling beer gardens – what better way to enjoy our parks.

What local restaurant is at the top of your list?

Given that I am not a good cook and would prefer to go out, I get this question a lot from friends. There are so many to choose from, I especially love the restaurants in Walker’s Point (Morel, Crazy Water, Fixture Pizza) but heart belongs to Centro Café in Riverwest.

Become better at embracing diversity and tackling poverty in all communities. I’m reading Evicted by Matthew Desmond and the stories of people within our community, our neighbors, who have struggled so much to survive and fight to find decent housing is saddening.

What is your favorite Milwaukee tradition?

Doors Open Milwaukee put on by Historic Milwaukee – I guess it’s a relatively new tradition but being a building junkie, it’s so fascinating to be able to see inside buildings that may not always be accessible. Most memorable have been back stage at the Riverside Theater, the Calvary Cemetery Mausoleum and seeing the beautiful textile collection inside MGIC.

What’s your favorite hidden gem or secret fact about the city?

I love the Milwaukee Boatline Tours. The narrated history and architecture cruise gives you a great understanding of development along the Milwaukee River, an up close view of the Port of Milwaukee and history of Kaszube’s Park on Jones Island, as well as a different perspective of Milwaukee from past the breakwater. Last year, we did the MONDO Milwaukee tour that explores the illicit hidden history of our city which was very entertaining and it was so cool to see the skyline lit up at night from Lake Michigan.