Future of Panther Arena, High Life Theatre Uncertain
Wisconsin Center District could pursue redevelopment of properties.
UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena (center) and Miller High Life Theatre (left). Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Downtown has seen plenty of change in the past 75 years, but two big things have remained consistent. On W. Kilbourn Avenue, an arena has stood at the intersection of N. Vel R. Phillips Avenue and an auditorium has stood at N. 6th Street.
Now that could change.
The Wisconsin Center District, which owns the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Miller High Life Theatre, has hired a consulting firm to explore the future of both buildings.
It’s also only entertaining short-term lease renewal with its existing tenants, including the UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball team, the Milwaukee Admirals minor league hockey team and the Milwaukee Wave indoor soccer team. The longest remaining agreement is the UW-Milwaukee naming rights deal, which expires in 2029.
One or both of the facilities could be replaced by a large, convention hotel.
“We need to consider what is the best and highest usage of the facilities and the WCD’s real estate,” said WCD CEO Marty Brooks during a May board meeting. “If we aren’t growing, we as an organization are dying.”
During the 2024 opening of the $456 million Baird Center expansion, Brooks shared his thoughts on the need for a convention center hotel with Urban Milwaukee. “It’s something I would love to see in the years to come, to see a 600-to-800-room convention center hotel. But that’s for tomorrow,” said the CEO.
A convention hotel is seen as a desirable amenity because it would allow large groups to avoid splitting their guests across multiple properties and would be directly connected to the center by a climate-controlled skywalk.
Hunden Partners is developing a master plan, which is expected to be presented to the WCD board in January. According to Brooks, the firm will evaluate what types of events WCD cannot host due to insufficient capacity or amenities as part of its study. WCD is also compiling a 20-year capital plan for both venues.
Board members, led by Marcus Corp. CEO Greg Marcus, encouraged Brooks to expand the Hunden study to explore the development potential of other underused neighboring properties. Suggested sites included the former Milwaukee Public Museum site, the soon-to-be-vacant state office building at 819 N. 6th St., a city-owned parking lot at 401-441 W. Wisconsin Ave. and a privately-owned site at 601 W. Wells St.
Marcus has also already publicly changed its hotel investment decisions because of the potential for a large, competing hotel. It owns the Hilton Milwaukee, currently the largest hotel in the city.
On Friday, in the first board meeting since May, Brooks addressed the potential that the study is a strategy to develop a convention center hotel.
“A few people have expressed concern that it has already been determined a convention center hotel will be built on the site of either the arena or theater. Let me assure you that there has been no determination made about the future of those venues,” said Brooks. “The Hunden Partners study, along with the independently performed 20-year capital plan for the arena and theater, are being developed so that the WCD staff can develop options to present to the board for consideration. Those options could include seeking long-term leases with UWM, the Admirals and the Wave and continuing to operate both buildings as they are today.”
The theater, redeveloped from its longtime use as the Milwaukee Auditorium in 2003, still has approximately $20 million in remaining debt that doesn’t mature for approximately a decade.
Panther Arena, opened in 1950 as the Milwaukee Arena. It serves as the region’s mid-sized venue, and the largest venue with a permanent ice sheet. The Admirals relocated to the arena in 2016, leaving the Bradley Center just a couple of years before it was demolished. The Bucks deliberately chose not to include a permanent ice sheet in Fiserv Forum to improve the arena bowl design and basketball court safety. UW-Milwaukee has long played in the 12,700-seat arena, with select games on campus in the 3,500-seat, gymnasium-style Klotsche Center.
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