See Brewers’ Options To Develop Land Around Their Stadium

American Family Field. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Take me out to the ball game? How about live, work and shop next to the ball game?

A newly prepared plan for the land around American Family Field calls for up to $820 million in development.

The study was required under the 2023 subsidy agreement that provided more than $500 million in public funding in exchange for the Milwaukee Brewers signing a lease extension through 2050. Mayor Cavalier Johnson called for the review during the funding debate.

Consultant Washington, D.C.-based Brailsford & Dunlavey (BD) prepared the report and three development scenarios for the Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District.

Based on market demand and site constraints, BD estimated there’s a potential for $732 million to $791 million in new construction. Each scenario would also require at least $27 million in infrastructure.

On the high end, parking lots could be redeveloped into 1,000 housing units, 200 hotel rooms, 52,000 square feet of retail and 50,000 square feet of office space. On the low end, BD estimates demand for 600 housing units, 150 hotel rooms, 38,000 square feet of retail and 20,000 square feet of office space.

A 27-page preliminary presentation, shown to the ballpark district board last week, shows three dramatically different site layouts. A final report is to be completed by Dec. 7.

Scenario A includes buildings on each side of the Menomonee River between Brewers Boulevard (Highway 175) and Selig Drive.

Scenario B would include less development on both sides of the river, but additional buildings on the Brewers 1 preferred parking lot along the third-base side of the ballpark.

Scenario C would wrap Helfaer Field — the former County Stadium site — with development and cover much of the preferred parking. Parking structures would be added.

Each of the scenarios calls for a new bridge over Brewers Boulevard near the left field corner of the ballpark. The Stadium Interchange replacement, part of the East-West Interstate 94 project, will already result in a narrowed footprint of Brewers Boulevard. Selig Drive currently goes under an elevated portion of the highway further north than the planned replacement.

The stadium’s 12,000 parking spaces would be reduced by 1,600 to 3,000 depending on the site plan selected. Each of the proposals calls for new parking structures and at least 900 shared spaces.

The state-controlled stadium district owns about 260 acres of land, 160 of which is used for parking. The development would cover up to 31 acres.

The study anticipates that the Brewers would need to enter a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement with the city in order to enable the development on tax-exempt land. The report provides a brief evaluation of three different PILOT agreements, including the development around the Washington D.C. study that covers the cost of infrastructure, the Brooklyn Bridge Park development agreement that funds maintenance and repairs and the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee agreement that provides funding for city services.

If the land were fully taxable, the resulting development would need to pay approximately $19 million in annual property taxes to the five taxing entities.

Analysis of a PILOT agreement was required as part of the stadium funding agreement.

The team has given few signals about its interest in developing the site, as Bruce Murphy reported in 2022 before the subsidy debate emerged.

“Can real estate development coexist with our tailgating culture and with our parking? Yes, but the devil is in the details,” said team president of business operations Rick Schlesinger during an October 2023 public hearing.

The team deferred comment on the latest plan until a final report is issued.

Ancillary development around stadiums has become increasingly common as teams seek to create non-game-day revenue streams and host cities attempt to generate more activity and recoup public subsidies.

In addition to the Milwaukee Bucks’ Deer District, which includes a hotel, health clinic, apartments, bars and restaurants and a concert venue, the Green Bay Packers have developed Titletown District, a mixed-use development with office space, a hotel, sledding hill, brewery, health clinic, housing and other venues. The Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves ownership groups have added mixed-use districts around their ballparks and other Major League Baseball teams have similar districts under development.

Site plans

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