City Commission Approves Metcalfe Park Development
Nonprofit organization plans ambitious, mixed-use 'liberation hub.'
Metcalfe Park Liberation Hub. Rendering by Engberg Anderson.
One of Milwaukee’s leading neighborhood-focused nonprofits is planning to build a new gathering place.
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges (MPCB) is pursuing a mixed-use development at 2600 N. 38th St.
Known as the Metcalfe Park Liberation Hub, the two-phase development would become a community hub with a wide range of functions.
The project began with an analysis of what was lacking in the neighborhood, said deputy director Melody McCurtis.
“Currently, we don’t have a cafe. We don’t have a bookstore. We don’t have a soup kitchen. We don’t have an intergenerational community hub that everybody can go to,” she told the City Plan Commission Monday.
The neighborhood does have a laundromat. “But your clothes might not get clean,” she said. “You waste your money trying to wash your clothes.”
The liberation hub would house all of those uses in a two-story building.
The first phase would include renovating two apartments in the 3,400-square-foot building as affordable housing. It would also include a bookstore, a cafe, and a small kitchen.
A second phase would include a sizable addition to the building, which would allow for a full commercial kitchen. It would also include four offices, including one for MPCB, a laundromat, community meeting space, and a courtyard.
Danell Cross, MPCB executive director, said her organization would operate the bookstore. It hopes to hire Anomaly Catering to operate the soup kitchen and cafe.
The project is backed by state Reps. Margaret Arney and Kalan Haywood II, who each represent a portion of the neighborhood. Both attended Monday’s meeting and spoke in support.
“I’m very, very impressed with the quality of the work,” said Arney.
Haywood praised the organization for showing leadership to deliver what residents want.
Area Ald. Russell W. Stamper II did not attend the meeting, but submitted a letter in support.
More than 50 letters of support were submitted.
A zoning change is necessary to enable the development, with the site being switched from two-family residential (RT3) to neighborhood shopping (NS2). The broad change would not require the organization to build exactly what was presented to the committee.
The plan commission unanimously recommended approval, forwarding the proposal to the Common Council.
According to the Department of City Development, the uses within the building are likely to require approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals.
The nonprofit is working with KG Development Group on the hub. The organizations are also partnering on an affordable housing development at 3100 W. Meinecke Ave.
Engberg Anderson is leading the development’s design. Elaine Familia is serving as MPCB’s owner’s representative.
MPCB purchased the existing building in 2025 from IKeptIt Real Estate for $97,136. The structure was built in 1915. A vacant neighboring lot, 2606-2608 N. 38th St., was purchased from the city last fall for $1. A house on the lot was demolished in 2014, two years after the city took ownership via tax foreclosure.
The organization would fund the project through a variety of sources. It has applied for a $250,000 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
Renderings and Site Plan
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