Piggy Wiggly store at 701-709 E. Capitol Dr. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Town Bank is working to open a branch in front of the shopping center at 701-709 E. Capitol Dr. According to city permit records, the bank is developing a new outlot structure atop a portion of a surface parking lot.

It’s just the latest change for the shopping center, which was sold and saw its anchor tenant replaced earlier this year. The complex was previously anchored by a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, but the store shuttered in March. A Burlington discount department store replaced the grocery store as the anchor tenant.

Hartland-based Town Bank, part of the larger Wintrust financial services company, hired architecture firm RINKA to design its new branch. Waukesha-based Innovative Construction Solutions is listed as the general contractor on a permit request.

The 2,703-square-foot branch will cost $1.5 million to construct according to a permit request.

“We couldn’t be happier to expand into a neighborhood with such an important and impactful history as Riverwest,” said bank president and CEO Jay Mack in a statement in October announcing the general area of the branch. “We are excited to bring our brand of customer-first community banking to a new part of Milwaukee, and look forward to serving the financial needs of Riverwest, Estabrook Park, Shorewood and other surrounding communities.”

It will be the bank’s seventh branch in the city of Milwaukee, though the branch nearest the new branch is two miles northeast in the village of Whitefish Bay. The nearest branch within the city is Downtown at 401 E. Kilbourn Ave. The bank has steadily expanded in Milwaukee in recent years.

The 7.02-acre shopping center property was acquired in January for $5.85 million by Capitol Commons Partners LLC, an affiliate of Bayside-based Midland Management.

All told, Town Bank operates approximately two dozen branches.

Three Bidders To Redevelop Marcus Center Parking Garage

The City of Milwaukee’s quest to see the Marcus Performing Arts Center parking structure replaced by a “landmark” development drew three bidders.

The city, in a request for proposals issued in September, said it would like to see plans for housing, a hotel or office space on the upper floors, with active first-floor uses including commercial or restaurant space, art gallery space or space for cultural tenants. Parking for the Marcus Center was to be maintained in the new development.

The three bids submitted submitted by the Dec. 15 are currently being reviewed and scored by city officials, as was first reported by Sean Ryan.

Any proposal advanced for a sale will be reviewed through a public process by the Common Council. The city is currently not disclosing the bids and those that submitted them.

A representative of Madison-based The Neutral Project, which is working to develop a 32-story mass timber apartment building on a private lot to the east, previously told Ryan that it intended to bid.

The structure to be replaced is owned by the city and leased to the nonprofit Marcus Performing Arts Center, which is located just across the street. A skywalk across E. State Street connects the two buildings. The parking structure opened in 1970 and includes 690 spaces. Department of City Development officials, speaking before the City Plan Commission in March, suggested the city intended to market the 2.45-acre site for sale and it was included as a catalytic site in the recently approved downtown plan. The lease is currently due for renewal.

Associated Bank Closing More Branches

Several miles west of the new Town Bank branch, Associated Bank is closing one if its branches.

Associated will shutter its branch at 8050 W. Capitol Dr. this spring. It’s one of six locations that Wisconsin’s largest bank is shuttering as the organization continues to consolidate its physical footprint and shift its remaining branches towards a technology-driven operation.

Three other Illinois branches will close along with Wisconsin branches in Milwaukee, Eau Claire, La Crosse (drive-through only), McFarland, Oconto Falls and Wausau.

The Milwaukee branch is being consolidated with the location at 5350 W. Fond du Lac Ave.

Earlier this year, Associated had announced it was closing six branches, including one in Milwaukee at 3847 S. Howell Ave.

In addition to its Green Bay headquarters, the bank has several hundred employees in the recently-renovated Associated Bank River Center tower in downtown Milwaukee. After the closure, it will have 11 full-service branches in Milwaukee and several others in surrounding communities. It has approximately 200 branches.

The Capitol Drive branch building was constructed in 1976, according to city assessment records. The 18,650-square-foot lot includes a 2,468-square-foot building.

Associated did not develop the property. It was originally part of Mutual Savings & Loan, then Mutual Savings Bank and later Bank Mutual. Associated acquired Bank Mutual in 2018. The property is assessed for $382,000.

Weekly Recap

Milwaukee Art Museum Unveils New Lights

Milwaukee’s most iconic building now looks different, at least at night. The Milwaukee Art Museum unveiled a new exterior lighting system Thursday evening.

The lights, which project a dynamic range of colors, illuminate the wings of the white Quadracci Pavilion, 700 N. Art Museum Dr. The lakefront building now has a touch of exterior color for the first time.

The new light system will operate every evening in which the museum is open until the New Year, and then every Thursday evening until spring. The display currently lasts until 8 p.m.

The building, with its movable wings like a bird, has become a symbol of the city. It is used as VISIT Milwaukee‘s logo and is commonly featured in the center of skyline images of the city. A campaign has received more than 10,000 votes to make a LEGO kit of the structure, and it was used as a filming location for Transformers 3.

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Wisconsin Has A “Smart Growth” Law To Encourage Housing, But No One Is Enforcing It

Robin Palm lives in Milwaukee and works for the village of Mount Pleasant, but he’s willing to metaphorically die on a hill in Wauwatosa in the name of affordable housing. Or more precisely, on a 10-acre plot of land in the Milwaukee suburb.

The 42-year-old urban planner saw great promise in that Wauwatosa land, home to multiple industrial buildings. It’s near Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, the city’s largest employer; top-rated schools; and The Village business district. It’s also the only location in Wauwatosa’s comprehensive land development plan that’s classified for the highest density of multi-family housing.

Two developers initially planned to build six apartment buildings at the site. The project would have brought 475 units, including 77 designed for lower-income workers. Palm called that a “win” for a city where 92% of the workforce lives elsewhere.

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Michels’ Taxes Will Pay For Skate Park, Street Paving, Public Art

The increased property tax revenue from infrastructure contractor Michels Corp’s River One complex will pay for a series of public improvements near the Harbor District development.

A tax incremental financing (TIF) district that encompasses the mixed-use development will be used to pay for a new skate park in the Lincoln Village neighborhood, repaving a collection of streets within a half mile of the development and additional public art under a nearby freeway overpass.

The skate park would be developed on a city-owned parking lot at 507 W. Rogers St., across Interstate 43/94 from River One. The project was initiated by area alderman and Common Council President José G. Pérez said Department of City Development economic development specialist Alyssa Remington on Thursday to the board of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee.

The city considers the lot underutilized. The Department of Public Works, through its MKE Plays program, would own and maintain the park. The proposed TIF amendment sets aside $1 million for the project. No design work has taken place.

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Milwaukee County Is Funding Affordable Housing In Suburbs

When Mark Hammond saw a vacant lot near the Mayfair Collection mixed-use community in Wauwatosa, he knew he wanted to build an apartment complex.

The location checked all the boxes for desirable housing. It had access to transit, schools, parks, jobs, grocery stores and a medical center. Such a project could also chip away at a long-standing affordable housing shortage in Milwaukee County’s suburbs.

So Hammond — a Wauwatosa resident, former chair of the city’s Community Development Authority and current vice president of MSP Real Estate, Inc. — got to planning, which included asking the county to chip in.

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Resource Center Provides Support To Renters, Landlords

The Milwaukee Rental Housing Resource Center is returning to its roots of providing streamlined tenant and landlord resources to help more Milwaukeeans keep their housing.

The center opened during the height of the COVD-19 pandemic and expanded to walk-ins a little over a year ago. Because of the demand and the funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act, the center quickly became a hub for tenants in need of rental assistance.

Maudwella Kirkendoll, the chief operating officer of Community Advocates, where the Milwaukee Rental Housing Resource Center is housed, said during that time the center saw from 30 to 50 people a day who sought rental assistance aid.

Since then, visits have gone down to about 100 people a week.

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30th Street Corridor Could Win $50 Million Grant

A coalition focused on bringing advanced manufacturing jobs to the 30th Street Industrial Corridor could soon be on the receiving end of a $50 million federal grant.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced that the “Grow Milwaukee Recompete Coalition Plan” is a finalist for its Distressed Area Recompete pilot program, funded by the CHIPS and Science Act.

The national program aims to create jobs where prime age employment (for those 25 to 54 years old) “significantly trails the national average.” In Milwaukee, the study area has a 62.1% prime-age employment rate and trails the national average by 16.3%.

The announcement comes the same day President Joe Biden travels to Milwaukee to promote small business growth at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce, 2900 W. Vliet St., just east of the corridor.

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University Club Closes Downtown Club

A Milwaukee institution is no more.

On Tuesday, the University Club of Milwaukee shuttered its downtown club, 924 E. Wells St.

“This is a tremendously difficult decision to make, especially at this time of year, and given that the walls of the City Club contain years, and in some cases generations, of memories for our members. We recognize that this closure may feel like losing a second home for many of you. Like you, we revere the proud history of the City Club and its place in the lives of many members and the Milwaukee community,” wrote board chair Jim Caragher in an email sent to the club members.

The club will continue to operate its “country club,” the former Tripoli Country Club, 7401 N. 43rd St., in Brown Deer. The two clubs merged in 2016, taking on the University Club brand and positioning the two facilities as “city club” and “country club.”

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