Revised Deer District Concert Hall Gets First Approval

2023 proposal for FPC Live Deer District concert venue. Rendering by Eppstein Uhen Architects.

Despite opposition from the owners of existing music venues, the downsized plan to build a concert venue next to Fiserv Forum received its first public endorsement Monday.

The City Plan Commission recommended approval of a zoning change for the project on a 4-0 vote. Many of the commission’s questions focused on how the complex would function until additional development happens on the block, formerly filled by the Bradley Center, and how the property would interface with Turner Hall across N. Vel R. Phillips Avenue.

The new plan from FPC Live, a partnership of Madison-based Frank Productions and national concert promoter Live Nation, calls for a 4,500-person concert venue targeted primarily at standing crowds.

A zoning change for the initial $50 million proposal, approved in 2022, allowed for attached 800- and 4,000-person venues. But firm officials said rising construction prices caused repeated delays.

“The project was too expensive to build as it had been approved,” Frank Productions CEO Joel Plant told the commission. Plant said the choice came down to stripping out amenities or reenvisioning the project. Choosing the latter option, the company dropped the 800-person venue and slightly grew the size of the other proposed concert hall.

“We are committed to making this $60-plus million investment in Milwaukee,” said Plant. The CEO said the revised venue would still fill a “large gap in the Milwaukee music scene.”

“As you look at the building as proposed, it has not changed much in terms of the large room,” said Plant. But a positive for the city, said Plant and Department of City Development officials, is that the eastern portion of the site — between the proposed venue and N. Vel R. Phillips Avenue — is more likely to be developed because it would now be larger. It has now grown to approximately 12,500 square feet, an increase of approximately 5,000 square feet.

“I submit to you that that’s very leasable and very developable,” said architect Greg Uhen of Eppstein Uhen Architects.

A hotel is planned for the site south of the venue. The Milwaukee Bucks, who own the land, are working with North Central Group (NCG) on the development. In May, NCG completed The Trade hotel on the opposite side of Fiserv Forum. “It’s done very well,” said NCG chief development officer Andy Inman of the 207-room hotel.

“We are very much in support of this project,” said Inman. “What the Deer District really needs, what we would like to see, is more development… everybody will repeat the benefits of this project.” The new hotel, planned to be located at the corner of N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. and W. State St., would have 150 to 175 guest rooms.

Inman said his company is already developing a Moxy-branded hotel next to FPC’s 2,500-person The Sylvee venue in Madison and the two are compatible uses. Plant referred to the potential Milwaukee hotel as a Moxy-branded development, though Inman did not. Moxy, part of Marriott, is officially billed as a ” playful, affordable, and stylish hotel brand designed to give guests everything they want and nothing they don’t.”

But commissioner Allyson Nemec pushed for the concert venue zoning change to address what would happen before any hotel is developed at the site. The plan commission approval came with the requirement that if a hotel zoning change isn’t approved by Jan. 1, 2026, landscaping must be installed at the hotel site.

Similarly, the commission added a condition that landscaping on the eastern development site and any temporary signage on the eastern side of the building be designed with the consultation of Turner Hall, which it would face.

“The Bradley Center was not the Taj Mahal, but it was a nice building,” said Chris Ahmuty, board president of the Turner Hall Preservation Trust, in raising concern about the design of the complex.

In addition to design changes, Milwaukee Turners executive director Emilio De Torre also asked for consideration of a traffic study of peak periods. Turner Hall has a restaurant on its first floor and a concert venue, operated by the Pabst Theater Group, on its upper floor. The Department of Public Works is also requesting a revised traffic study, which the commission added as a condition.

But Uhen and Plant said the development already includes one very unusual positive design feature that would reduce traffic issues and make the venue a good neighbor. A publicly- accessible private street would bisect the former Bradley Center block, running north from W. State Street to the now-pedestrian W. Highland Avenue. The loading docks for the FPC Live would face the private street, hiding trucks and buses.

“It is all about neighborhood cohesion,” said Plant. “Community cooperation is the key for all of this working well together.” The CEO said the planned signage facing Turner Hall would not contain advertisements, but could highlight past shows. “It’s not a sponsorship sign.”

The Department of City Development endorsed the revised proposal. “We do believe the plans that are in front of you do meet the spirit and conditions of the plans you had approved in the past,” said city planning manager Sam Leichtling.

But that claim drew an objection from Save MKE Music Scene attorney John Wirth. “I disagree that this meets the spirit or intent of the [Deer District zoning designation], nor did what was there last year,” said Wirth. “There really is no accountability in this proposal.”

He said a prior safety study contained no real detail. “If you look at that redacted study, it said nothing,” Wirth said.

Without affirming or denying Wirth’s claims, the commission did add a final condition to its approval that a new safety plan be completed before the Common Council reviews the proposal.

Bloomingdale, head of the AFL CIO of Wisconsin, recused herself from the vote, as she did in 2022. After this article was first published, Urban Milwaukee was informed that she is a member of the preservation trust of Turner Hall.

Labor groups endorsed the project, including Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization president Peter Rickman, who testified in person Monday.

The Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee will next review the proposal, before the full council votes on the zoning change.

Renderings

2022 Venue Renderings

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UPDATE: Additional information on Bloomingdale’s abstention was provided after the article was first published.

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Related Legislation: File 230626