Food Hall On Milwaukee Street Moves Forward

A proposed new downtown food hall continues to move forward.

In February, conceptual plans were submitted to the city to open identical 20-stall marketplaces for small food vendors in two different downtown locations.

Now a final location has been selected and revised plans were submitted for review.

An 18-stall marketplace would be constructed in the one-story building at 733-737 N. Milwaukee St. It would serve in-person diners, carryout customers and delivery operators.

A 334-square-foot dining area would be located in the front of the space, with approximately 200-square-foot kitchen stalls running the length of the 5,746-square-foot building. The plans show a “front of the house” counter area separating the public from having direct access to all but four of the restaurant spaces.

A newly formed limited liability company with a Los Angeles address purchased the building on June 7th for $850,000 from an affiliate of Scott Lurie‘s F Street Group. Lurie acquired the long-vacant building in 2019 for $575,000.

Urban Milwaukee was unable to reach anyone affiliated with the firm, named for the property’s address, for comment on the plans. The preliminary plans were attributed to Chicago-based real estate broker Kyle McKechnie.

The latest plan set, labeled “Highly Confidential – Do Not Share,” was submitted to the city in late May for review in anticipation of receiving a commercial alteration permit to build out the space. It was submitted by Milwaukee-based Dan Beyer Architects.

The basement of the building would be used for storage, including cold and dry food storage.

The new food hall would not be the first in the city, but it would contain the most vendors in the smallest amount of space.

The food hall concept has taken off across the country in the past five years and is used both as an incubator space for new restaurant concepts and a way for local restaurants to offer a satellite location in a high-traffic location. Unlike traditional food courts, food halls typically do not include national chains.

The Sherman Phoenix, 3536 W. Fond du Lac Ave., opened in 2018 in a former bank branch with a mix of food and commercial tenants. Crossroads Collective, 2238 N. Farwell Ave., followed shortly thereafter with exclusively food tenants on the city’s East Side.

The large 3rd Street Market Hall is slated to open later this summer in Westown.

A second former bank, this time at 5900 W. North Ave., is slated to become a food hall with the first tenants announced in January. And Crossroads operator New Land Enterprises plans to open a Bay View food hall, Flour & Feed, in its new KinetiK apartment building.

Building Photos