Midtown Walmart Redevelopment Wins Approval After Contentious Fight

Midtown Center Walmart. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A complicated and controversial redevelopment proposal for the former Midtown Center Walmart won approval Monday, three weeks after a marathon, heated public hearing ended without a decision.

The City Plan Commission approved the project July 20 before a half-filled meeting room, a sharp contrast to the more than six hours of testimony, debate and interruptions that accompanied its June 29 hearing.

The change and approval were driven by the fact that the most controversial element of the proposal was no longer part of the plan.

Developer Affordable Family Storage (AFS) dropped its proposed 19,000-square-foot “computer research facility” from the development on July 1. The company had described it as a small computing facility intended to serve specialized medical research tenants and with city-imposed restrictions to prevent any negative externalities, but opponents repeatedly called it a “data center” and raised concerns about its potential energy use, environmental impact and location in a majority-Black neighborhood.

The revised proposal expands the planned indoor self-storage facility to approximately 108,000 square feet inside the vacant Walmart building at 5825 W. Hope Ave.

The broader redevelopment plan, which was at risk if the AFS component was not approved, calls for affordable housing, a new Milwaukee Public Library branch and space for another community-serving tenant.

Department of City Development Commissioner Lafayette Crump thanked AFS and housing developer Gorman & Co. for “staying the course, despite being on the receiving end of some hurtful and unnecessary comments, including some mischaracterizations.”

The approval represents a major step forward in the four-year effort to redevelop the Walmart, which closed in 2016.

Under the proposal, the city would receive a long-term lease for approximately 51,000 square feet at the front of the building for $1. The space would accommodate a replacement for the Capitol Library and another community tenant. Gorman & Company would develop about 200 affordable apartments, known as Midtown Commons, on an underused portion of the shopping center’s parking lot.

Affordable Family Storage would operate the self-storage facility in the rear of the former retail building. But, under conditions of the approval, permits cannot be issued for the proposal until the city has a lease option and Gorman has applied for building permits.

The project previously faced organized opposition, primarily from the Milwaukee chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, over the computing component and concerns about community outreach. Several dozen people spoke against the plan during the June 29 commission meeting, while a smaller number of residents and project supporters said the redevelopment could reactivate the struggling shopping center.

On Monday, area Ald. Mark Chambers, Jr. asked the commission to weigh the input of area residents more heavily than that of activists. He said the deal was a positive for the city and neighborhood.

“There is a difference between advocating for a community and speaking over one,” he said. “Unfortunately, misinformation spread much faster than facts.”

He accused opponents of repeating claims that “simply were not true.”

Chambers rhetorically questioned why there was so much opposition to any attempt to improve the property. “If every meaningful investment in disadvantaged neighborhoods is unacceptable, then what exactly is appropriate?” he asked.

After ticking off a list of reasons people opposed the project, the handful of opponents in the room started jeering Chambers. Chair Stephanie Bloomingdale slammed her gavel and attempted to take control of the meeting.

Crump said the revised development agreement would be “less impactful, but still quite transformative” for the city. He noted that on a per-square-foot basis, the computing use would have generated three to five times more property tax revenue than the self-storage use.

Chambers previously expressed frustration that the computing use was added late in the negotiations by Overhue, AFS’ owner.

In an interview with Urban Milwaukee, Overhue said it would be a “major loss” economically for his firm to not have the computing facility in the development. He said it also would have been an asset to the neighborhood.

Because a formal public hearing was held during the June 29 meeting, no public comment was taken Monday.

The public will be allowed to comment when the design of the library and community use comes forward for review. Commission approval will be required for those components, said Tanya Fonseca, city planning manager.

The June meeting ended without approval after commissioners struggled to reach agreement on a series of proposed conditions. Instead, the commission unanimously voted to hold the matter until July 20.

The housing portion of the development is expected to receive city financial assistance.

A tax incremental financing district for the Midtown Commons redevelopment was unanimously approved July 16 by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee. The subsidy proposal is now awaiting approval from the Milwaukee Common Council.

While the financing plan awaits council approval, the Plan Commission’s decision on the Walmart redevelopment was binding. The commission was determining whether the proposal complied with the development incentive zone governing the property.

The former Walmart has been vacant for approximately a decade. An earlier AFS proposal was rejected by the commission in 2023 after Chambers and the Department of City Development opposed converting the building primarily into self-storage.

“I will be honest, I am still not the biggest fan of the storage overall,” said Commissioner Catrina Crane, who voted against the proposal in 2023.

Commissioner Allyson Nemec questioned whether the project called for any changes to address reckless driving. Fonseca said changes were planned for the privately owned Hope Avenue roadway that divides the property, but that the city believed most of the reckless driving issues at the Midtown Center were caused by vacancies in the retail center.

Chambers, responding to a second Nemec question about flooding, said multiple projects were underway to reduce flooding in Grasslyn Manor, the area south of Midtown Center.

The commission voted unanimously Monday to approve the project.

The reformulated plan gained city support by adding affordable housing, a new library and community space to the development. The city is still pursuing a community tenant after an earlier plan to relocate the Milwaukee Election Commission to the building was canceled.

The housing component faced additional urgency because Gorman previously planned to begin construction by July 31 to preserve its low-income housing tax credit financing. Department of City Development officials warned in June that missing the deadline could force the developer to seek a potentially costly extension from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

AFS does not own any other storage facilities in Wisconsin, Overhue said. The company previously owned a facility in Cudahy, which it had developed in a former Pick ‘n Save grocery store, but Overhue said it was sold.

After the hearing, as Urban Milwaukee attempted to interview Overhue, real estate agent and former political candidate Stacy Smiter began shouting at Overhue. “Thank you for coming in the Black community and trying to rape us,” said Smiter.

Crump stayed in the meeting room, addressing questions from opponents for more than a half-hour after the meeting.

Commissioner Tarik Moody was absent from the meeting.

Ald. Sharlen P. Moore, who appeared at the prior meeting to oppose the move of the Capitol Library out of her district, did not appear at Monday’s meeting. Chambers said the project has been in the works for several years and was under the control of the library board. The board has approved hiring an architect to design the new facility. Crump, a constituent of Moore’s, previously said that the relocation would actually move the library closer to his home and that of several other 10th District residents despite the fact it was moving to the opposite side of Capitol Drive.

Former Walmart

New Walmart interior layout. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Computational research place sign. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Initial Walmart site plan. Image submitted to CPC by KORB.

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