Dockwall Collapse Creates Uncertain Future For Riverfront Site
City could compel repairs, but hasn't yet. What comes next?
Partially collapsed dockwall at 101 S. 2nd St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
A small sliver of riverfront land just outside of Downtown could become a thorny issue for the City of Milwaukee.
A portion of the privately-owned concrete dockwall at 101 S. 2nd St. recently collapsed.
State statute gives the city the power to force repairs of deteriorating or collapsed dock walls. But according to a discussion of Port Milwaukee officials at Thursday’s Board of Harbor Commissioners meeting, the city has been reluctant to demand an immediate fix.
“We are working on a plan, because there are some issues with the owner’s ability to afford that and there may be an interest in a private business acquiring the property,” said Port Director Jackie Q. Carter. “What we didn’t want to do was take action on it and then force something to happen that didn’t benefit anybody.”
The 0.39-acre site, which has been listed for sale for multiple years, is vacant. Much of the site, which faces the Menomonee River and the United States Postal Service complex on W. St. Paul Avenue, is covered in grass.
The property has been owned by the D’Acquisito family, long involved in wholesale fruit distribution, for many years.
“It’s not a very attractive spot for development,” said Carter. “We have been trying to work with him to find someone who has a business nearby that might interested in buying it.”
The property, pre-dockwall collapse, was listed for sale for $1.25 million. A sign at the site advertising its sale through Colliers International has been posted at the site for at least two years. The property includes 240 feet of river frontage.
“It’s not a hazard to navigation currently,” said port chief engineer Brian Kasprzyk, explaining how that has bought time for the city. “Ultimately, it falls on the property to take care of this.”
But that hasn’t stopped several partners from getting involved. The engineer said the port has been in contact with the Department of Public Works about the neighboring bridge, the Department of Neighborhood Services and the Department of City Development. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has also been notified.
Kasprzyk said a 2017 consultant’s report on area dockwalls said the property’s dockwall was in good condition. “There was no visible signs in 2017 that this was coming down.” He said there was also no sign during a 2022 inspection.
But that inspection doesn’t include an underwater review. Kasprzyk said it is not the city’s responsibility to perform an underwater inspection. He said the cost to inspect the entire port area would be “very high.”
The city now is trying to address what comes next.
“People are aware and it’s being monitored. And I think if it gets a point where there is a safety issue then we will act, but we are trying to figure out an alternative before we get to that point,” said Carter in informally briefing the board. “We are trying to move as fast as we can but there are a lot of partners involved.”
“We didn’t want to just jump the gun and get tied up in court for months and months and months,” said Kasprzyk.
Shortly after the meeting concluded, a private contractor was observed fencing off the site.
A conceptual development plan attached to the Colliers listing calls for an approximately 24,000-square-foot building containing six loft-style rowhouses and a river-facing commercial space.
City permit records indicate that until 2007 a small structure was on the site. A Wisconsin Historical Society report indicates it was a two-story structure from 1921 that was used as a Pillsbury flour warehouse. Since 2018, the property has been owned by 101 South 2nd Street LLC, which lists Gina Pokorny (née D’Acquisto) as its registered agent. No members of the family could be reached for comment.
The property is currently assessed for $500,000. To the west is the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District headquarters. To the south, a large warehouse at 115 S. 2nd St. was previously used for fruit distribution and was also listed for sale in recent years. The warehouse buildings across the street were targeted for redevelopment as of 2022, but that proposal has yet to advance.
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Get rid of the numerous heavy, noisy freight trains that shake the surrounding area for blocks like an earthquake many times daily! What happened to the proposed Muskego Yards freight bypass that would have allowed Amtrak to expand & kept the freight traffic from the downtown/Third Ward area?