No New Third Ward Concert Venue

The proposed indoor theater complex planned for the Historic Third Ward is no more. But it could still end up somewhere else.

Frank Productions and Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. jointly announced they canceled the project, which was to start construction this year. It was to include two venues targeted at live music acts with 800 and 4,000 person capacities.

FPC Live, an arm of Frank Productions and global entertainment conglomerate Live Nation, was proposing to develop the complex on land owned by Summerfest-host MWF on the southern edge of the Historic Third Ward.

But despite appearing to need little in the way of legislative approvals, the project encountered opposition from residents of the Historic Third Ward over concerns about traffic and noise as well as opposition from the operators of other venues.

“After a thorough process, we have determined that the site available near Henry Maier Festival Park (Summerfest site) is no longer under consideration for our proposed two-venue development in Milwaukee,” said FPC Live president Charlie Goldstone in a statement. “We remain committed to developing this state-of-the-art project in Milwaukee, preparing the city for the next several decades of live entertainment, and we will announce more details in due time.”

Sources in recent months have told Urban Milwaukee that Madison-based FPC is considering multiple sites, including the former Bradley Center site, a portion of the Marquette University land at the southwest corner of N. 6th St. and W. Michigan St. and a lot along N. Water St. that Marcus Corp. previously proposed to build a corporate headquarters on.

“MWF will continue to focus on its core business of producing Summerfest presented by American Family Insurance, as well as providing our community with a full summer calendar of ethnic and cultural festivals along with special events,” said the Milwaukee nonprofit in a statement. “This also includes an ongoing partnership with FPC to co-promote concerts at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater and BMO Harris Pavilion, continuing to bring blockbuster artists to Milwaukee’s lakefront.”

The indoor concert complex, first proposed in December 2021, was to include a series of outdoor decks.

Area Alderman Robert Bauman had not expressed his public support for the project and introduced zoning changes that would require public review for future concert venues with large capacities.

MWF would have leased a 1.25-acre site to Marquee Ventures, a third-party real estate firm connected to FPC. Marquee would have built the facility and FPC, whose majority (51%) owner is Live Nation, would operate it. MWF owns a series of parcels outside of the Henry Maier Festival Park which it leases from the city.

Eppstein Uhen Architects was working on the facility’s design.

Public relations executive Craig Peterson is leading a group called Friends & Neighbors of the Historic Third Ward that is opposed to the project.

For more on how the facility would or wouldn’t impact other area music venues, see a Jan. 4 article from Bruce Murphy.

Site Plan

Renderings