City Weighing 3 Options for Key Bronzeville Site

Victory Lofts. Rendering by Engberg Anderson.

A prominent Bronzeville development site could soon become home to a food hall, entertainment venue or vegan cafe-led housing development.

The Bronzeville Advisory Committee is weighing three bids to redevelop the former Career Youth Development (CYD) building and adjacent Victory Over Violence Park site at 2601-2643 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.

After hearing presentations May 11, the committee is scheduled to make its recommendation on June 1.

It’s a “super difficult” choice, said committee member Rayhainio Boynes on May 11.

The proposals, submitted by Milwaukee-based developers Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation (MLKEDC), Northernstar Companies and KG Development Group, all call for mixed-use, affordable housing developments that would preserve at least a portion of the park while, to varying degrees, honoring the legacy of community activist Jeannetta Simpson-Robinson, who founded CYD.

Each development would rely on low-income housing tax credits as a key funding source. The state-administered federal credit program provides equity in exchange for setting specific units at affordable rates for qualifying households. Each development is proposed to include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

The city issued a request for proposals for the 1.4-acre site in January, seeking a taxable development with at least 10,000 square feet of public gathering space to replace the park. The Department of City Development received six proposals before narrowing the field to three finalists.

The site includes the former CYD building and Victory Over Violence Park, which Simpson-Robinson helped create in the 1990s as a community response to violence. The city acquired the former CYD building in 2024 after the long-struggling nonprofit folded.

Area Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs said it was important that any new development respects the legacy of CYD, which she said was formative for her and her late aide Akuwa Dantzler when they were teenagers. “At its best, CYD represents love in action,” said Coggs.

MLK Mosaic

MLKEDC’s proposal, dubbed “The MLK Mosaic,” would include a four-story building with 60 apartments, an approximately 8,860-square-foot food hall, King’s Table Kollective and more than 10,000 square feet of public plaza space. Proposed vendors for the food hall include a new restaurant from Chinese restaurant entrepreneur Albert Yee and a new home for Sam’s Place Jazz Cafe, which closed earlier this year.

MLKEDC Executive Director Nicole Robbins said the food hall “would be very similar to 3rd Street Market Hall.” But it would be smaller, with space for up to five vendors, and focus on international food offerings.

The nonprofit developer, which has completed several projects in the neighborhood, is working with Continuum Architects + Planners, CG Schmidt and Prime Consulting Services.

The $27.6 million development would be backed by contributions from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Bader Philanthropies.

Victory Over Violence

Northernstar Companies is proposing a five-story, 61-unit affordable housing development with ground-floor commercial space occupied by Twisted Plants, a vegan restaurant, and a mushroom retail business operated by Uniting Garden Homes. The proposal also includes more than 10,000 square feet of green space.

“This project treats wellness as a design standard, not an add-on,” said Northernstar CEO Brandon Methu.

Northernstar is working with Community First as a co-developer on the $18 million project. JLA Architects and Stevens Construction are the design and general contracting firms on the project.

Methu said his team’s renderings are just a starting point and subject to more neighbor review. “Design belongs to the community, not to us,” he said.

Artist Reginald Baylor is also serving as a creative consultant on the project. “His creative direction is not a mural program. It is a project’s visual identity. It’s storytelling,” said Methu.

Northernstar is currently nearing final approval of an affordable housing development, Austin Commons, in Bay View.

Victory Lofts

KG Development Group’s “Victory Lofts” proposal would include 48 apartments, a 7,500-square-foot performing arts and cultural venue with a commercial kitchen and approximately 10,300 square feet of public green space.

KG, led by Anthony Kazee, is working with three recent Associates in Commercial Real Estate, ACRE, program graduates: Rise & Grind cafe owner Baboonie Tatum, Donna Page of Chic Lifestyles and Jairus Shaw of Shaw Companies. The three created the project originally as part of the ACRE program training.

The development would have a live arts and entertainment focus, including a performance stage for dance. It would share parking with the nearby Milwaukee Health Services facility.

Neaokia Spillers-Collins, said Tatum, will serve as the anchor tenant and operate the entertainment space.

Chris Walton, son of the late Simpson-Robinson, attended the meeting and said he is supporting the Victory Lofts proposal.

Simpson-Robinson would be honored by a redone mural on the site and a “full programming cadence” that honors her legacy as a leader in youth and community support.

Engberg Anderson and Catalyst Construction are the design and general contracting firms on the project.

LaShawndra Vernon, the advisory committee chair, said that regardless of who is selected, each team produced “beautiful recommendations” and would receive feedback to use on a future King Drive project. “There’s lots more opportunity,” she said.

The full council must also approve any associated land sale. Affordable housing proposals regularly include a city subsidy in the form of a tax incremental financing district that effectively rebates property tax payments for a set period.

All three proposals call for meeting the city’s minimum $280,000 purchase price for the properties. The development team would need to clear the property.

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