Interval Coffee Opening King Drive Operation
Coffee company is leasing a nearly 16,000-square-foot facility for roasting and packaging.
2976 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. in May 2023. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Interval, a local coffee company, will relocate its roasting and packaging operations from the city’s West Side to the heart of the Bronzeville neighborhood.
The company is leasing a 15,700-square-foot building at 2976 N. Martin Luther King Jr Dr., where it will focus on roasting beans for its two Milwaukee cafes, as well as expanding e-commerce and wholesale operations. Production at the new location will be under a new brand name, Neighborly Coffee Roasters.
Developer Ryan Pattee, whose investment group purchased the building earlier this year, said he’s excited to welcome a local business into the neighborhood. Bronzeville has seen growth through a number of recent projects including a mixed-use library development being constructed across the street.
“They’ve got a really good momentum going,” Pattee said of the neighborhood. “And we’re glad to be a part of it.”
Pattee connected with Interval owner Ryan Hoban through Hoan Group, a local networking collective. When he came across the King Drive building, Hoban came to mind right away.
“I knew he was looking for roasting space,” Pattee said, “It’s nice when you can have these conversations and know where people are and what they’re looking for, and then help them find it. That’s what I’m most excited about. I love being able to keep small businesses around and give them affordable space where they can stay in the city and execute their vision.”
Pattee said that the building is in need of some cosmetic upgrades to accommodate the new occupants, but has good bones. “It’s all concrete and steel,” he said. “It’s held up for a hundred years, and hopefully it’ll hold up for another hundred.”
The move will be a homecoming of sorts for Hoban. Also a co-founder of Pilcrow Coffee, he opened a cafe on King Drive in 2017, but later sold his share in the company. The cafe has since relocated to a nearby storefront on W. Walnut Street.
Interval operates two Milwaukee cafes. Its flagship location is at 1600 N. Jackson St. A second location opened in Bay View in June at 2268 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
Pattee said the company will likely be up and running in its new location by early 2024. Interval currently uses space at Vennture Brew Co., 5519 W. North Ave., for roasting and packaging.
Once Interval settles into its much larger space, the company may eventually offer community-facing programming such as coffee roasting classes.
Besides the building, the property also includes a long, deep parcel of land, which Pattee said he would like to see activated for community use in the future.
Pattee told Urban Milwaukee in August that his group has been seeking to purchase a property along King Drive for a number of years. The vacant, two-story building, with its large storefront windows and a Mediterranean-style facade, turned out to be the perfect candidate.
“The architectural significance and intricacies of the building were very hard to pass up,” he said.
Pattee and Omri Ben Yaish acquired the property for $260,000.
Just over a decade ago, however, the structure was slated for a different fate. In 2011, a large, sustained leak in the roof prompted Department of Neighborhood Services to review the building for condemnation. Several building code violations were issued as the building changed hands several times for prices less than $30,000, Urban Milwaukee previously reported.
The building’s most recent tenant appears to have been A&G Used Appliances and Repair.
Originally constructed in 1927, the building has been occupied by a series of automobile dealerships and service shops including Oldsmobile dealer The North Side Auto Sales, high-end-focused Milrace Motors, Jaguar of Milwaukee, used car dealer Koeppel Motors and Garfield Chevrolet.
The property’s sloping site causes the second story to become nearly level with W. Chambers Street at the rear of the building, allowing vehicles to drive right into the building’s upper floor.
Jeramey Jannene contributed to this report
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