cintinued from old thread

Here's a couple pictures I shot from a friends 17th floor window at the UWM dorms. If you look closely you can see from a more horizontal perspective how far up UCT is on KT.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/dresphotos/IMG_0347.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/dresphotos/IMG_0350.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/dresphotos/IMG_0346.jpg

I like!

From the last forum... the renderings for Pier Wisconsin can be found at http://www.pierwisconsin.org

These renderings have all been posted in previous forums, but since this is a new thread and it's been a while since they've been talked about, I thought I'd refresh everyone's memory.

Milwaukee's latest two lakefront additions, Pier Wisconsin (http://www.pierwisconsin.org/) and Lakeshore State Park (http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/parks/specific/lakeshore/) are going to add a lot to our city, there's no doubt about it.

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/214/mediumviewfromnortheast0zh.jpg

Opening this year, Pier Wisconsin will play host to the new Discovery World museum, multiple aquariums (salt and fresh water), touch tanks where you can pet stingrays and sharks (among other things), and a ton of other cool things. It's also going to close the gap in Milwaukee's lakefront between the art museum and the "island" behind the summerfest grounds.

Among other things, they're building a land bridge connecting Pier Wisconsin to the new park. This place is yet another amazingly cool new thing to brag about.

Here are the design layouts for the park in case you're interested:

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/7725/lakeshoreareaplan19le.jpg

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/2743/lakeshoreplan22ku.jpg

But anyway... back to Pier Wisconsin. This rendering of an interior portion of the building couldn't make the building seem more spectacular. This place is going to be amazing!

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/2325/aquariumlabels1yr.jpg

Falls printer to move to former stockyards site

A company that provides printing and direct mail marketing services plans to move from Waukesha County to Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley, it was announced today.

Proven Direct plans to move from Menomonee Falls to the former Milwaukee Stockyards site, 1201 W. Canal St., according to Menomonee Valley Partners Inc., a non-profit group that promotes valley development. Zeigler Bence, a development firm, has agreed to buy the 13-acre site, and plans to build a building with 80,000 to 100,000 square feet, with 50,000 square feet to be leased to Proven Direct.

The company has 56 employees. It plans to expand to more than 80 employees by 2008. Ziegler Bence plans to begin construction this spring, with the building to be completed by the end of 2006.

Proven Direct becomes the latest company to announce plans to move to the valley. Frozen pizza maker Palermo Villa Inc. is building a 135,000-square-foot building with manufacturing, distribution and office space in the city-owned Valley Industrial Center, a business park just east of Miller Park’s eastern parking lots.

Palermo Villa will consolidate its operations from Milwaukee's south side and suburban Chicago to the valley site once the $15 million development is completed in August. The company has 270 employees, with 80 positions shifting from northern Illinois to Milwaukee.

-By Tom Daykin

FRIDAY, Jan. 27, 2006, 10:25 a.m.
Kaplan College opens at Schlitz Park

A for-profit college has opened its first school in Wisconsin at Milwaukee’s Schlitz Park business park, it was announced today.

Kaplan Higher Education this week opened Kaplan College – Milwaukee at 111 W. Pleasant St. It is Kaplan’s 77th school nationally and occupies 27,070 square feet at Schlitz Park, said Betsy Turenne, Kaplan spokeswoman.

Kaplan is offering dental assistant and medical assistant programs at its Milwaukee campus. The Schlitz Park facility features two medical labs and one dental lab, and has over 120 students.

Kaplan Higher Education is based in Roswell, Ga., and operates in 21 states.

That Pier Wisconsin and lake park development is really cool. Milwaukee lakefront will be an even better tourist destination with the new museums and parks.

more to add on the milw river
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/bym/img/jan06/edel0128_big.jpg

New cruise ship to set sail on Milwaukee River
150-passenger Empress may operate year-round
By ANDREW JOHNSON
andrewjohnson@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Jan. 27, 2006
Edelweiss Cruise Lines plans to add an 84-foot, $1.4 million luxury motor yacht called the Empress to its fleet in late March or early April, according to parent company Waterfront Entertainment Group.
The Empress, operated by Waterfront Entertainment Group, is slated to join the Edelweiss Cruise Lines fleet in late March or early April.
The two-deck, 150-passenger vessel will operate primarily as a charter vessel for corporate events, weddings and special parties, said Waterfront President Hans Weissgerber III. Charter rates will range from $4,000 for a two-hour cocktail cruise to $25,000 for a five-hour dinner cruise. \
...
Unlike the other Edelweiss ships, the Empress will be able to operate up to a mile offshore, allowing the company to expand its cruises to other cities on Lake Michigan.

full article
http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jan06/388247.asp

that's kinda an ugly boat. looks a little too flashy for milwaukee in my opinion.

Manpower Financing.
There were 2 stories in todays Businees section about Manpower. The first is about another group joining the fight to stop the financing. The second on how well Manpower is doing and is expected to do financially.

Lets put the design aside for a moment. I'm on the fence on this one, so I'd like some opinions. I do understand all the benifits to the city on the relocation as we've outlined countless times here.

The question is, is Gary Grunau the one who really benefits from this TIF? I'm not sure I'm understanding how Manpower, given its record year financially, is benifitting given the media coverage of this and that they could easily afford to build their own garage.

I guess, I don't understand who is actually getting the deal. It seems like Grunau.

Could someone clear up the relationship in this situation between the developer and the company when it comes to this TIF. You can tell I'm confused.

http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jan06/388294.asp

http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jan06/388252.asp

Thanks

I think that boat is a great idea. Sometimes there needs to be an element of flashiness to attract suburbanites and visitors downtown, which is what this boat will mostly serve anyway.

Oh, I don't mean that I don't like the idea of it, I just don't like IT. i think i'd rather have an updated version of the edelweiss, more of a river/canal boat. this boat is going to have to have all the bridges raised everytime it goes up the river. oh well.

^I know what you're saying, it's time for Edelweiss to get an update though. I wonder if you'll be able to rent it out?

The question is, is Gary Grunau the one who really benefits from this TIF? I'm not sure I'm understanding how Manpower, given its record year financially, is benifitting given the media coverage of this and that they could easily afford to build their own garage.

I guess, I don't understand who is actually getting the deal. It seems like Grunau.

Could someone clear up the relationship in this situation between the developer and the company when it comes to this TIF. You can tell I'm confused.


The city, Manpower, and Grunau are all benefiting. The city benefits from having a Fortune 500 company and all the employees downtown (other businesses will love to have more customers!). Manpower benefits from being lucky enough to be downtown :) . And Grunau benefits from having a tenant for his office development. Now the breakdown of how this works as I understand it... Manpower doesn't want to have to move to a spot where they have to pay parking. In the suburbs they wouldn't have to and they weren't coming downtown if that was going to change.

Gary Grunau who is developing the office project is using the TIF to build the city-owned parking garage, which Manpower will use. Without the TIF, Gary Grunau would have to charge Manpower money to make up for the costs of building the structure, or not charge them and absorb the costs himself (something I doubt anyone would want to do).

So by having the TIF to Grunau, that allows him to have the parking structure without passing the costs off to Manpower which wouldn't locate downtown without free parking. Oh and the TIF is going to street improvements and the riverwalk as well.

So.. yeah after reading what I wrote I am not sure if that will make sense, but thats pretty much my thoughts..

The city, Manpower, and Grunau are all benefiting. The city benefits from having a Fortune 500 company and all the employees downtown (other businesses will love to have more customers!). Manpower benefits from being lucky enough to be downtown :) . And Grunau benefits from having a tenant for his office development. Now the breakdown of how this works as I understand it... Manpower doesn't want to have to move to a spot where they have to pay parking. In the suburbs they wouldn't have to and they weren't coming downtown if that was going to change.

Gary Grunau who is developing the office project is using the TIF to build the city-owned parking garage, which Manpower will use. Without the TIF, Gary Grunau would have to charge Manpower money to make up for the costs of building the structure, or not charge them and absorb the costs himself (something I doubt anyone would want to do).

So by having the TIF to Grunau, that allows him to have the parking structure without passing the costs off to Manpower which wouldn't locate downtown without free parking. Oh and the TIF is going to street improvements and the riverwalk as well.

So.. yeah after reading what I wrote I am not sure if that will make sense, but thats pretty much my thoughts..

Thanks Exit.
It makes sense, and I did have a couple more questions, but in the overall picture they aren't currently relevant to this forum.

What I wouldnt give to own some of that land within a block of Manpower...

A variety of projects
James Connelly, another politically active Milwaukee attorney who champions the UEP, wants Milwaukee to become a national model of urban rebirth.

Many of the projects that Milwaukee has appended to the UEP concept are unorthodox by conventional standards of American inner-city activism:

• Connelly, Nettles and a handful of Milwaukee financiers are working on a venture capital fund that will bankroll inner-city start-up businesses. Called Midcities Investment Management Inc., it will provide capital for some of the projects that the UEP aims to bring into the city.

• Johnson Controls Inc., a Fortune 100 engineering firm in suburban Glendale, is piloting a strategy to make money by rebuilding blighted neighborhoods in the nation's 50 biggest cities. Its executives are using Milwaukee as a pilot for the strategy, which is called MetroMarkets.

• Johnson Controls also is working with UEP activists to import private-sector jobs into Milwaukee's central city. It wants to borrow a model that's been successful in inner-city Pittsburgh called the Manchester-Bidwell Corp., which put a jobs-training center into an arts and music facility. One possibility under early consideration would be to house the training program in the abandoned 21-acre Pabst Brewing Co. complex downtown.

• Donet Graves, a former U.S. Treasury official, has selected Milwaukee to test a "franchise and dealership" strategy. The idea is that franchise businesses, with their pre-existing brands and business models, offer an accelerated route to minority business ownership.

• Wall Street Without Walls, a non-profit group of investment bankers, is using Milwaukee to design a program that would use vacant city lots, abandoned properties and the depreciated inventory of local manufacturers as collateral to back loans for minority-owned businesses. The "dead asset" fund would create another tool for financing for UEP projects.

• Nettles has begun canvasing metro-area corporations that might want to divest subsidiary businesses. Nettles wants to find corporate spin-offs that are suitable to acquire and relocate into the central city. Nettles, a former state commerce secretary, this month signed a renewable one-year contract with the Greater Milwaukee Committee, a group of leading executives from the region, to execute the "spin-out strategy."

Nettles' initiative marks the rebirth of the GMC's Initiative for a Competitive Milwaukee, which started with fanfare in 2003 but never got beyond the planning stages. Nettles also will scout out the national corporations in the Business Roundtable, another UEP partner representing 160 CEOs nationwide, for spinout companies he can bring to Milwaukee's urban center.

"We are attempting to push every button we can," Mayor Tom Barrett said last week in a presentation of the UEP program to the editorial board of the Journal Sentinel.

here's the whole article!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jan06/388460.asp)

http://www.jsonline.com/news/daywatch.asp#14827

MONDAY, Jan. 30, 2006, 2:55 p.m.
Student housing proposed in Riverwest

A complex that would provide apartments for more than 400 students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee might be developed in the Riverwest neighborhood, a university official said today.

The apartments, which would be built overlooking the Milwaukee River, just north of E. North Ave. and about one block east of N. Humboldt Blvd., have emerged as a “strong prospect,” said Scott Peak, UWM director of housing.

Preliminary plans call for 126 two-bedroom and one-bedroom apartments, Peak said, totaling 477 beds. The apartments would be in three connected buildings of around five to six stories.

UWM has been seeking locations for additional student housing. The university has around 28,000 students, with around 2,700 living in campus housing.

D-res, those pictures are from a great and unique point of view! You should try and get repeats of those in the spring when the scenery starts to liven up for the warmer seasons. (that and UCT would be further along)

D-res, those pictures are from a great and unique point of view! You should try and get repeats of those in the spring when the scenery starts to liven up for the warmer seasons. (that and UCT would be further along)

thanks :)

will do. i know plenty of people on the higher floors facing in all directions. there are some great views up there. i may be wrong, but when you look out at lake michigan, you can actually see the curvature of the earth. its really subtle but I think it's there.. you tell me

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/dresphotos/IMG_0344.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/dresphotos/IMG_0343.jpg

i was just in the merril building a few hours ago...i love the set of buildings over there. Greene Hall is neat...very quiet to study in

i was just in the merril building a few hours ago...i love the set of buildings over there. Greene Hall is neat...very quiet to study in

i was in curtin hall a few hours ago. my philosophy class goes late but its well worth it. great class

I believe you need to be many, many thousnads of feet higher to see the curvature of the earth. I think that's just the horizon being circular.

The photos are interesting though, curvature or not.

From what I have heard/read/seen in recent years Milwaukee County and specifically our county exec has decided to make our parks a low priority. I don’t have much information other than this for why it seems our parks (which I think are very underrated) look like they will be abandoned in the next few years. Does anyone know why this is happening? Or are there plans out there to do something?

From what I have heard/read/seen in recent years Milwaukee County and specifically our county exec has decided to make our parks a low priority. I don’t have much information other than this for why it seems our parks (which I think are very underrated) look like they will be abandoned in the next few years. Does anyone know why this is happening? Or are there plans out there to do something?

Money, money, money...that's the problem; there isn't enough to go around to pay for all the things the County is responsible for. For example, a growing need to provide funding for the Courts means less money available for the Parks. And when financial aid from the State is reduced, or there are specific mandates that limit what that money can be spent on, also has an affect.

The result is that the County has less moey to spread around to all the different departments (parks, public works, sheriffs, courts, jail, transit, etc.). So with less money to spend, the budgets shrink, and with less money available, jobs are cut, maintenance is deferred, park facilities get reduced hours, or closed altogether, and so forth. And of course, when you postopne maintenance projects, the longer you put it off, the more things deteriorate, which means the more you have to spend later on to fix it up...

The slow decline of the Park system has been going on for a couple decades now, as the budget gets smaller and smaller; the parks continually get a smaller share of the County's financial pie.

The Journal Sentinel recently had a few articles regarding the latest budget announcement from the Parks department--they're running in the red. You can find more info by searching the JS archives, as the sad story of the parks system is told every year or so.

There are efforts going on to provide some private funding for the parks, and volunteer workers to do some basic maintenance. There also have been some public-private things going on, such as allowing some private businesses to operate in the public parks--like the Starbucks at Red Arrow Park or the Lake Park Bistro, which contribute funding by paying rent.

thanks :)

will do. i know plenty of people on the higher floors facing in all directions. there are some great views up there. i may be wrong, but when you look out at lake michigan, you can actually see the curvature of the earth. its really subtle but I think it's there.. you tell me
d-res, that's actually just something that happens when you have a wide angle lens... it's the same effect as when you see a wide angle shot of some dense area with tall buildings and the buildings in the center are perfectly straight but the buildings on the left side of the pic appear to lean to the left and the ones on the right appear to lean to the right.. just a little optical illusion caused by the curvature of the lens... the wider angle the lens (the farther 'zoomed out' it is) the stronger the effect will be... i'm sure there's some big fancy name for the whole effect but being a first semester photo student i couldn't tell you.. betcha milwaukeemark could though...

anyways, those views are awesome, it would be great if you could get a bunch of shots later on in spring and summer...

[QUOTE=D-res]thanks :)

will do. i know plenty of people on the higher floors facing in all directions. there are some great views up there. i may be wrong, but when you look out at lake michigan, you can actually see the curvature of the earth. its really subtle but I think it's there.. you tell me

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/dresphotos/IMG_0344.jpg
cool pic!!

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/dresphotos/IMG_0344.jpg

cool pic!!

I lived on the 21st floor of North Tower at Sandburg Hall for 4 years with an eastward view of the lake. When looking out over the lake, you can indeed see a slight curvature on the horizon...and that's just looking at it with the naked eye, not through a camera lens.

...i'm sure there's some big fancy name for the whole effect...

It's actually not a big fancy name. It's called barrel distortion. Basically it's just the consequence of having a wide-angle lens. For most cameras, the "normal" focal length is 50mm. Any number lower than that is considered "wide," but a true wide angle lens has a focal length of around 24mm.

Sometimes you want the barrel distortion effect - fish-eye lenses for example... are basically the widest angle lens you can get.

For the most part, if you want to avoid barrel distortion, don't shoot with a wide focal length. If you need the wide shot though, just try to avoid straight lines. After all, they're what's causing the "problem" in the first place. :)

I lived on the 21st floor of North Tower at Sandburg Hall for 4 years with an eastward view of the lake. When looking out over the lake, you can indeed see a slight curvature on the horizon...and that's just looking at it with the naked eye, not through a camera lens.

I'm pretty sure that what you're describing must be an optical illusion because from what I understand, it is impossible to see the curvature of the earth from an altitude lower than approximately 70,000 feet.

Optical illusion or not, there was a curvature on the horizon.

I'm pretty sure that what you're describing must be an optical illusion because from what I understand, it is impossible to see the curvature of the earth from an altitude lower than approximately 70,000 feet.


i dont know about that. when flying to charlotte once during the day we had an incredibly and very oddly clear day. hardly any clouds, on the way up to our final altitude of 42,000 we had to stop at 20,000 and cruise for a few minutes and it was quite apparent.

maybe i'm wrong though. i dont know

Haha, I'm not an expert on the curvature of the Earth.. I was just contributing to the conversation. :) Maybe we should ask Bill Nye.

I see the curvature in the photo, but I have never seen curvature from a building, even from the tallest ones. Maybe there's something with how the land mass that sticks out into the Lake that UWM sits on somehow tricks the eye into seeing curvature on the Lake horizon.

I think we're actually talking about the curvature of the lens here. Cool pictures though.

Its possible the windows from your dorm could've provided a slight curvature effect too.

I'm pretty sure the curvature , even from 20,000 feet, is caused by the horizon being round. Take a round object like a hockey puck, lay it almost flat, and look across it, it gives a similar effect. The edge of the puck represents the edge of the horizon (the lake in this case) against the sky.

http://www.uwgb.edu/moored/horizon.gif

Council approval urged for $25 million in aid

A city financing package for the proposed Manpower Inc. corporate headquarters won endorsement Tuesday from a Common Council committee, paving the way for final approval from the full council next week.

The Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee voted 5-0 to recommend the plan, which would help relocate nearly 1,000 Manpower employees from Glendale and Brookfield to downtown Milwaukee.

Full story http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jan06/388824.asp

I wonder why you don't see curvature of the land when you're, say, at the top of the Sears Tower? The surrounding area is incredibly flat, like the surface of Lake Michigan.

Money, money, money...that's the problem; there isn't enough to go around to pay for all the things the County is responsible for. For example, a growing need to provide funding for the Courts means less money available for the Parks. And when financial aid from the State is reduced, or there are specific mandates that limit what that money can be spent on, also has an affect.

The result is that the County has less moey to spread around to all the different departments (parks, public works, sheriffs, courts, jail, transit, etc.). So with less money to spend, the budgets shrink, and with less money available, jobs are cut, maintenance is deferred, park facilities get reduced hours, or closed altogether, and so forth. And of course, when you postopne maintenance projects, the longer you put it off, the more things deteriorate, which means the more you have to spend later on to fix it up...

The slow decline of the Park system has been going on for a couple decades now, as the budget gets smaller and smaller; the parks continually get a smaller share of the County's financial pie.

The Journal Sentinel recently had a few articles regarding the latest budget announcement from the Parks department--they're running in the red. You can find more info by searching the JS archives, as the sad story of the parks system is told every year or so.

There are efforts going on to provide some private funding for the parks, and volunteer workers to do some basic maintenance. There also have been some public-private things going on, such as allowing some private businesses to operate in the public parks--like the Starbucks at Red Arrow Park or the Lake Park Bistro, which contribute funding by paying rent.
But at least you don't pass the buck and give the parks director and ultimatum, as Walker did, to basically fix up HIS mess in 6 months our you'll be fired because of his asinine merger of the Parks system and the DPW which was a complete disaster. She took the hit in the media as most would given Walker is her boss. There are millions, yes millions of NECESSARY upkeeps just to get back to where we were two, three? decades ago. Anyone remember what Bradford Beach use to look like?

She has had to work under Walkers starvation of park funding and then a handful of work orders come in at the end of the year, many of which should have been charged to DPW and she is given this ultimatum. I’m so pissed off by Walkers hypocrisy in this.

The Park system is under Walkers control yet he was outraged with the Public Museum whose debt was a third of what the parks is if you figure in differed maintenance. The parks budget has been starved to further Walkers agenda to privatize the parks.

She is one best, if not the best hardest working directors we have ever had, and as Maritect says you really need to read the history of this. Start with Tommy Thomsons mandate in the early 80’s.

If you want to see a bunch of Starbucks in the Parks, or land sold off for condos let it starve. Because at that point we will have very few parks left.

If you are interested in this quality of life subject please read Gerry Brodericks proposal.

Also, just so theres no confussion. I'm not a park employee, nor do I personally know the director. And MilwaukeeBS Lake Park and I think one or two more parks in our system were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted - the architect of Central Park NY

You should be able to see the curvature from the Sears Tower, and any high building when looking at a huge lake like Lake Michigan. Sailors used to see it...

I wonder why you don't see curvature of the land when you're, say, at the top of the Sears Tower? The surrounding area is incredibly flat, like the surface of Lake Michigan.

I'm sure most of us have seen that picture of Chicago from across Lake Michigan. You can clearly see the effect the curvature has, because you cannot see the bottom parts of all of the buildings in the skyline. I love this pic.

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/3829/original6kk.jpg

I'm going to try and settle this curvature of Earth debate once and for all. I posted a question on Scientific American's "Science Questions and Answers (http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_directory.cfm)" website asking what altitude one must be in order to see the curvature of the Earth. Hopefully they'll post my question.

^^ I hadn't seen that picture, that's pretty cool.

I'm going to try and settle this curvature of Earth debate once and for all. I posted a question on Scientific American's "Science Questions and Answers (http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_directory.cfm)" website asking what altitude one must be in order to see the curvature of the Earth. Hopefully they'll post my question.

Please do, because this curvature of the Earth stuff is getting old. We should get back to "Milwaukee Development News 6". :)

Please do, because this curvature of the Earth stuff is getting old. We should get back to "Milwaukee Development News 6". :)
Office, condos planned for Park East area

A local development firm plans to build a four-story office building, along with condominiums overlooking the Milwaukee River, in the downtown Park East redevelopment area, a company official said today.

Brookfield-based MLG Development Inc. is proposing the office building for a triangle-shaped parcel bordered by N. Water, N. Edison and E. Knapp streets, said Andrew Bruce, executive vice president.

MLG recently submitted a proposal to Milwaukee County officials to buy the county-owned parcel, which is around 16,300 square feet, for $676,000, Bruce said. MLG was the only company to submit a bid for the land, which had a minimum sale price of $604,000.

MLG also plans to develop two condo buildings on a parcel just west of the county-owned land, Bruce said. That tract, a parking lot that overlooks the river between E. Cherry and E. Knapp streets, is owned by the Willard Isaacs family.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/daywatch.asp#15062

Finally, that area looks terrible right now. thanks for the post

Alright, back to the curvature of the earth ...

Just kidding. I'm glad to hear somebody is moving on those riverfront parcels in the Park East. But I'm a bit disappointed that MLG was the only party to try to aquire the land. Maybe they were the only serious party. At any rate, I would have thought there would be more interest in those parcels.

Finally, that area looks terrible right now. thanks for the post
What are you talking about? I love fenced in parking lots right on the river!!!

Office, condos planned for Park East area

A local development firm plans to build a four-story office building, along with condominiums overlooking the Milwaukee River, in the downtown Park East redevelopment area, a company official said today

I'll be interested to see what the design of the triangular building will be. Done right, I think it is ideally shaped lot for an innovative design. However, I must say I predict that the building will try to "fit in with it's environment" and end up being a largely brick structure (i.e. Manpower and Time Warner buildings) We shall wait and see. Also, I wonder how many condos they are proposing for the river site. I like the fact the developer has made a proposal for both lots.

I have wondered what the status of the Milwaukee Connector was as of late. The idea of a cable guided tram system which would provide quick access to many city landmarks has ironically taken a snail's pace to get rolling. There was a good aritcle in the Daily Reporter today which outlined the Connector's status as Do or Die.

Connector's time has come

by Sean Ryan


It’s near zero hour for the Milwaukee Connector plan to build a new downtown transit system.

“Let me put it this way — it’s either going to start in 2006 or it’s not,” said Peter Beitzel, vice president with the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

The Connector has popped up as a point of discussion during city development debates, most recently on Tuesday when aldermen endorsed funding for the Manpower Inc. headquarters. The message is usually the same: Get it moving.

Milwaukee attorney John Finerty urged the city to get the project rolling in November before the Plan Commission approved the Park Lafayette condo project, which will spend $15 million on parking. After approving $18.7 million in tax incremental financing for Manpower’s parking structure, Alderman Michael D’Amato said the Connector is the most important issue in the city’s future.

“We can no longer be held down by those small thinkers,” he said. “We have got to push forward with the downtown Connector.”

The plan is far from final, as the key players must still sign off on it, and the public hasn’t had a chance to choose among the alternatives. In general, the Milwaukee Connector would run either guided electric buses along overhead power lines or hybrid buses in dedicated street lanes through Milwaukee’s downtown, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus and Fond du Lac Avenue.

Keep reading! (http://www.dailyreporter.com/item.cfm?recid=20039679&snippet=f)

^^ I don't like the overhead power lines idea. One thing that really makes any area of the city look nice is when the power lines are burried and not visible. Unless extreme care in design is taken, I don't think that having power lines hovering over major downtown streets is a good idea. (I'm reminded of downtown Dayton, OH, which has this system inplace already, and the power lines do not add to the appearence of downtown at all) I really like the hybrid busses idea though.

For renderings of the complete project, check out UWM's new housing website. Click on Kenilworth Square. You guys may have seen these already, but they were new to me.
Here's the link: Kenilworth Square (http://www3.uwm.edu/Dept/housing/)

-double post-

http://www.dailyreporter.com/images/editorialImages/renderings-020206.jpg

The Crescent Station Concept is my pick, looks sweet.

How do I get back to an old Milwaukee Development Forum to read it? Milwaukee Development News 5, to be more specific...

Go to the "North American Skyscrapers Forum" section, then scroll down to "NASF Archives."

The plan is far from final, as the key players must still sign off on it, and the public hasn’t had a chance to choose among the alternatives. In general, the Milwaukee Connector would run either guided electric buses along overhead power lines or hybrid buses in dedicated street lanes through Milwaukee’s downtown, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus and Fond du Lac Avenue.

Am I the only one that thinks the city/region should make a very large investment in this thing and get the best possible system regardless of price? (I assume I am not, but I am new to SSC) Don't get me wrong, I am all for any kind of mass transit improvements. I do have to sit and wonder what is the point in replacing existing busses with more busses? I was in MPLS over the holidays and saw the train there, I don’t see why Milwaukee couldn’t put something like that or the kind of system they have in Portland in place. I know that no politician wants to put him/herself out there and look toward the future, but I feel if the city tries to do this on the cheap its going to be like that Simpsons episode with the monorail. At least they could try and throwing some cash that way instead of wasting it on deep tunnels and larger freeways.

...I feel if the city tries to do this on the cheap its going to be like that Simpsons episode with the monorail.


:lol: yeah


anyway, is the guided tram option still available? Because I wouldn't want to see power lines above Wisconsin Ave either.

anyway, is the guided tram option still available? Because I wouldn't want to see power lines above Wisconsin Ave either.

Did you read the article? Or even just the little snippet of the article that Milwaukee's Finest posted above?

Am I the only one that thinks the city/region should make a very large investment in this thing and get the best possible system regardless of price? (I assume I am not, but I am new to SSC) Don't get me wrong, I am all for any kind of mass transit improvements. I do have to sit and wonder what is the point in replacing existing busses with more busses? I was in MPLS over the holidays and saw the train there, I don’t see why Milwaukee couldn’t put something like that or the kind of system they have in Portland in place. I know that no politician wants to put him/herself out there and look toward the future, but I feel if the city tries to do this on the cheap its going to be like that Simpsons episode with the monorail. At least they could try and throwing some cash that way instead of wasting it on deep tunnels and larger freeways.

go here: http://www.milwaukeeconnector.com/alternatives.html

scroll to the bottom and it has the reasons it was eliminated. granted, it's expensive as all hell, while i think it would be nice given the cost was lower

I personally feel the guided street tram would be the best way to go. It would add quality to a great city, the lifespan is more the 2 times the life of a hybrid bus (est 30yrs vs. 12 yrs), its primary power source is electric vs. hybrids deisel/electric, making it better for the environment. It has its pros and cons, but if Milwaukee really wants to invest in this system, it shouldn't go to basic.

I personally feel the guided street tram would be the best way to go. It would add quality to a great city, the lifespan is more the 2 times the life of a hybrid bus (est 30yrs vs. 12 yrs), its primary power source is electric vs. hybrids deisel/electric, making it better for the environment. It has its pros and cons, but if Milwaukee really wants to invest in this system, it shouldn't go to basic.

while i STRONGLY disagree with your opinion of favorite basketball teams in this state, i defintely agree here. a GST would be a great addition and isnt milwaukee one of the biggest cities in the country without some sort of alternative to standard city buses?

Office, condos planned for Park East area


http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/feb06/389487.asp

updated article from story I posted yesturday

Condos, office building planned for Park East
Development would be built on two parcels near river
By TOM DAYKIN
tdaykin@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Feb. 2, 2006

A local development firm plans to build a four-story office building - and 90 condominiums overlooking the Milwaukee River - in the Park East redevelopment area downtown, a company executive said Thursday.

MLG Development Inc., based in Brookfield, is proposing the office building for a triangle-shaped parcel bordered by N. Water, N. Edison and E. Knapp streets, said Andrew Bruce, executive vice president.

MLG recently submitted a proposal to Milwaukee County officials to buy the county-owned land, which is around 16,300 square feet, for $676,000, Bruce said.

MLG was the only company to submit a bid for the land, which carries a minimum sale price of $604,000, said Craig Dillman, county manager of real estate services. County officials are evaluating the bid, which likely will be reviewed by the County Board in April, he said.

MLG also plans to develop condos on a parcel just west of the county-owned land, Bruce said. That tract, a parking lot that overlooks the river between E. Cherry and E. Knapp streets, is owned by the Willard Isaacs family.

MLG might ask city officials to consider vacating a one block portion of Edison St. that separates the two parcels, Bruce said.

Adding that block would create a combined development parcel of about 2.5 acres, said Thomas Frenn, an attorney for the Isaacs family, who owns Parking Management of Wisconsin Inc.

However, two large sewer tunnels run underneath Edison St., and moving those utilities to make way for development might be too costly, Bruce and Frenn said. Instead, the development might be designed to work around the tunnels, they said.

MLG's proposal for the county-owned land calls for a 44,000-square-foot building, with retail on the street level and offices on the upper floors, Bruce said.

The proposal includes preliminary plans for two buildings, with around 90 condos on the riverfront parcel, Bruce said. Those buildings would include street-level retail, he said.

Bruce was surprised to find that MLG was the only firm to submit a bid for the county-owned land. That parcel offers a good development opportunity because it sits on a highly visible corner with a lot of traffic, Bruce said.

Bruce and Frenn said plans for Manpower Inc.'s new corporate headquarters, which would be just across the river south of W. Cherry St., have increased the development potential of both the county-owned parcel and the tract along the river.

The Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee this week endorsed a $25.3 million city funding plan for the $78 million Manpower building, which would shift 970 jobs from Glendale and Brookfield to downtown.

Supporters of the city financing package say the Manpower development would help stimulate additional investments in the Park East redevelopment area. The full council will consider the funding package on Tuesday.

The city would borrow the money and repay it, along with $17.8 million in interest, over 20 years with the development's property taxes, according to the Department of City Development.

Some of the debt also would be repaid through property taxes generated by the nearby Time Warner Cable regional headquarters, 1320 N. King Drive.

The MLG proposal is the third development plan to surface for county-owned parcels in the Park East area since marketing of those tracts started a year ago.

The County Board and County Executive Scott Walker have approved plans for 140 condos and 26,800 square feet of retail space on 2 acres bordered by N. Milwaukee, N. Jefferson and E. Lyon streets and E. Ogden Ave.

They've also approved plans for 175 condos and 184,800 square feet of retail space on 2 acres bordered by N. Broadway, N. Milwaukee St., N. Water St. and E. Ogden Ave.

Both projects are being marketed by their developers, who hope to begin construction this year if financing is secured.

Other developments in the 64-acre Park East area include plans for 38 condos on a 10,200-square-foot parcel at N. Water, N. Jefferson and E. Pleasant streets. The developer, Legacy Real Estate Partners, expects to begin construction this year.

Also, the 160-unit Terraces at River Bluff condos are under construction south of E. Ogden Ave., between N. Broadway and N. Milwaukee St.

article's webpage (http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/feb06/389487.asp)

while i STRONGLY disagree with your opinion of favorite basketball teams in this state, i defintely agree here. a GST would be a great addition and isnt milwaukee one of the biggest cities in the country without some sort of alternative to standard city buses?

I dont think we are officially #1...columbus? maybe, more? But it has been always "unfeasible" for milwaukee to use an alternative in the past. It would be real interesting for MKE to get a nice alternative like this and to see if people will actually use it. If they put this in place...a nice park and ride system would be a great idea to set in place for UWM students..? downtown workers, tourists?...ect. but why would they do that now,...it would make to much sense. hehe.

anyways, even though i go to UWM, basically Univ-Wisconsin's in state rival, the badgers will always be my favorite basketball program. ~GO BADGERS!~ other teams in this state have become to depressing to watch (packers,ect.)

hey guess what everyone! a new development near the park east...wait i think that was posted 10 times .... :)

Someone should make a post with a milwaukee run-down of developments/proposals/ect... i would praise you so much! With all the news im forgetting about some of the past proposals and developments

Under Construction-unless noted

Fifth Ward

First Place On the River (Residential, New Construction)
Kramer Foundry Lofts (5 story residential)
New building on water across from Kramer Foundry site (office, retail)

Third Ward

Marine Terminal Lofts (Residential, Office- HGA Architects, Redevelopment)
Hanson's Landing (New Construction, Residential, next to Harborfront)
River Renaissance (New Construction, Residential, Retail - Red Star Tavern)
325 E. Chicago (Office conversion for Eppstein Uhen Architects)
233 E. Chicago (Redevelopment, Old Knitting Works Building)
341 N. Milwaukee St. (Renovation, Former Milwaukee Antique Center)
222 E. Erie (Renovation, Office, Retail, across from River Ren.)
proposed- 12 story residential, hotel across from Milwaukee Public Market
proposed - new bamboo park!
proposed - Possible mixed use development for MLS soccer stadium

Downtown
University Club Tower (residential tower, new construction,36 stories)
City Green (residential, new construction, 11, 10, and 9 stories)
601lofts (residential, new construction, 10 stories)
Wisconsin Tower (renovation, residential)
The Terraces (New Construction, residential, retail, rowhouses, 2 13 story buildings)
Pier Wisconsin (new construction, aquatarium, discovery world)
Park East Enterprise Lofts (new construction, office, residential)

Beerline B Neighborhood
River Crest (residential, new construction)
3 story building behind Rivercrest on the river (office, retail)
Union Point (new construction, residential, retail, 7 stories)
Park Terrace (new construction, rowhouses, single family homes)
New shopping center on Humboldt
coffee house at the NW corner of Humboldt/Water
residential development at the SE corner of Humboldt/ Water
Gullen Tannery (redevelopment, residential)
proposed - The Edge (condos)
proposed - Shopping Center on the corner Pleasent St / Commerce St.

Eastside
Kenilworth Building (redevelopment, residential, retail)
St. Mary's Hospital (redevelopment, office, retail-whole foods)
The Sterling (New construction, 11 stories, residential, retail)
2 20 story towers on Prospect (residential, small retail)
proposed - UWM student housing on a vacant river site on North Ave.

Park East
all proposed
mixed use project just west of East Pointe Shopping Center (Series of condos and retail ranging from a signature 8 story building to rowhouses)
mixed use project just west of the above development (Series of condos and retail ranging from a 12 story tower to an 8 story tower and rowhouses)
4 story office building plus possible condos on the river. (Triangular parcel bounded by Edison, Water, & Knapp)
Manpower headquarters on King Drive
Sidney Hih Building (renovation, plus new construction of a 12 story residential building)
Phister and Vogel redevelopment (500 condos plus retail)
The FlatIron (Condos retail, new construction)

Menominee Valley
Palermo's facility
Proven Direct headquarters on old stock yards site
Potawanomi expansion
Harley Davidson Museum

I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting but I have tired myself out doing this. Don't forget all of developments happening west of downtown near Marquette, inner city redevelopment efforts, and near north side development! Lot's happening...hope this list helps!

Great list Finest! Thanks so much for posting it!

*Edit*
And I noticed on Thursday(I think) that at the City Green Condos site they've now got the big crane up!

There is residential building boom happening right now in Milwaukee's central city north side. Almost all of it is non-profit built and much of it is built by faith based organizations.

Here's what I've read about and seen myself tooling around the North Side:

- new townhomes on Center in the teens. This is a really, really tough neighborhood and there are three rowhouse buildings going on up right on Center Street.

-King Commons on MLK and Hadley. New apartment units and retail on the first floor.

-Columbia Square on North Ave. and 36th. Four story mixed use building.

-Three entire blocks of single family residential homes being developed in the blocks SW of the corner of Fond du Lac and North.

-A block of single family units going up on a former MPS playground on 11th & LLoyd (just south of where Teutonia ends).

-Proposed mixed use three story on the corner of Center and 27th Street.

-Proposed townhomes on Teutonia and Center.

-New houses and rehabs in the neighborhood immediately east of Washington Park.

-Johnson Park lofts, a twelve story conversion into residential units on Fond du Lac and about 20th.

-Brand new market rate (ie, not non-profit) houses in Halyard Park, west of King Drive between Walnut and Reservoir.

And on the west side of town, this article sums a lot of this up, but leaves some of it out (http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/dec05/376724.asp):

- 27th/Wisconsin, mixed-use development by Sherman and Associates, 4-story building and surrounded by rowhouses
- 22nd/Wells, seven rowhouses by Weas Development and NLTK Architects
- renovation of the Bockl Building into the 2040 Lofts, student housing for Marquette (http://www.2040lofts.com/)
- West Pointe condos at 27/Wells (http://www.westpointecondos.com/)
- Historic Lofts on Kilbourn (23/Kilbourn) by Gorman and Company (http://www.gormancompany.com/rent_search/kilbourn.htm)
- City on a Hill, don't know much about this.
- Ambassador Hotel renovation (which is amazing if you haven't been there yet)

I'm sure I'm forgetting some projects. I personally think this area has a lot of potential. There are a ton of huge mansions there waiting to be renovated. With Marquette and Downtown on the east end and Story Hill and Wauwatosa on the west, it is really a small area that needs some work, and you can see that the work is underway.

Also:

Central City: And between 5th/6th and Walnut/Vine four buildings are going to be constructed, two commercial/light industrial and two commercial/residential. (http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jan06/385783.asp)

Bay View: the condos at KK and Beecher have just been completed.

Third Ward/Downtown: Hack Furniture building was purchased for condo/retail conversion.

Downtown: Johnny V has gutted the Posner building at Wisconsin and Plankinton (which houses Mo's Irish Pub), and will be kicking out the seedy tenants, like Sunshine Beauty Supply. Rumor has it, he will be putting a boutique hotel there called Hotel Milwaukee.

Downtown: Hotel Wisconsin being converted into condos/retail.

Downtown: Reuss Federal Plaza being remodeled and a Capitol Grill going in on first floor.

Downtown: Howard Johnson on West Wisconsin being renovated and changed to a Hampton Inn.

Downtown: Don't forget the Amtrak Station renovation set to begin this Spring.

wow thanks everyone...milwaukee is on a roll! :cheers:

Also, the 160-unit Terraces at River Bluff condos are under construction south of E. Ogden Ave., between N. Broadway and N. Milwaukee St.

Forgive me for being out of touch, but is this true as reported in the article? This is the Terraces right, with the twin 13 story condo buildings, the 8 story building, and the townhomes and loads of green space???

I never even saw pre-sales or anything or is this a different project? Also if anyone knows are they developing the project in phases, ala City Green, or building all at once?

Thanks.

yup thats it avissers, Ive seen some ads for it on the internet and on bus shelters.

here is the rendering if someone hasnt seen it....
http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/9025/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz3cc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


The Park East is going to be incredible when all this construction or proposals are completed. That one Tannery alone is going to add like 500 condos--which will bring in a ton of new people to live in the area. With all the other condos being built and the huge number of Manpower employees--I think downtown will really blossom by the end of the decade.

You know what hasnt gotten any attention on this site? The new Bayshore. I know its in the suburbs (a rather nice one near Milwaukee, UWM and the central city) and a mall...but you cant tell me you arent excitied when you see this.


http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/4628/bayshorehome4zi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/4851/baybig0707034ne.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/2029/shoreabig0209046np.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/1065/render1128017ow.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

wow thanks everyone...milwaukee is on a roll! :cheers:

Yeah, no kidding. When you see it all listed out like that it really gives a sense of the sheer volume of activity going on in the city right now. If this keeps up I think 2000-2010 (the 2000s?) will go down as one of the greatest decades in Milwaukee's history, certainly in the lifetimes of most people around today.

This city has woken up. Sidewalks in Downtown Milwaukee actually have people on them day and night. Suburbanites and outstate people have gotten the picture and actually want to visit the city center. Entire swaths of the city (Walkers Point and the Valley) that were in perpetual decay 10 years ago are recharging with new buildings and jobs. Milwaukeeans are going out to eat more now than ever and have more than ever to choose from.

I grew up in a Milwaukee that had a defeated "can't do" attitude. I now live in a Milwaukee where we feel we can do things, and we are.

the whole downtown area just seems to be on fire. Third Ward, Fifth Ward/Walkers Point, downtown, the Valley, Eastside, Westside, near Northside, and the Lakefront.

I created a thread about this awhile back-but I do feel we are living in one of Milwaukees greatest decades.

deleted

You know what hasnt gotten any attention on this site? The new Bayshore. I know its in the suburbs (a rather nice one near Milwaukee, UWM and the central city) and a mall...but you cant tell me you arent excitied when you see this.

Yeah, I really think this is going to be a wonderful development when it's all done. The speed at which it is coming together is phenomenal! I drive by it everyday on the way to work, and it seems everytime I drive by it on the way home they have another steel structure in place. They still haven't announced their tenant list though.

the whole downtown area just seems to be on fire. Third Ward, Fifth Ward/Walkers Point, downtown, the Valley, Eastside, Westside, near Northside, and the Lakefront.

I created a thread about this awhile back-but I do feel we are living in one of Milwaukees greatest decades.

redd, surely you aren't suggesting that we are about to peak? to me this is just the beginning. i feel like we are just starting to make milwaukee presentable to the world again.

i think a major key to fast-tracking our success will be more international recognition and foreign investment. that's why the mayor's trips to china and ireland were so important in my eyes, and to a lesser extent, working with Chicago on the Olympics and the Milwaukee 7 initiative. There is a lot of money out there and once Milwaukee begins to capture even a very small portion of it, that will be the second Golden Age of Milwaukee.

oh no, I dont think we are at our peak at all. This decade is the start of the great things to come in my opinion, one of the more memorable--however we need to settle our ghetto down for us to truly be a great city. The seeds are going to be planted in these next four years.

BTW--happy birthday MilwaukeeMark! :cheers:

the whole downtown area just seems to be on fire. Third Ward, Fifth Ward/Walkers Point, downtown, the Valley, Eastside, Westside, near Northside, and the Lakefront.

I created a thread about this awhile back-but I do feel we are living in one of Milwaukees greatest decades.

Where would riverwest fit in? I think it will be mentioned more and more in the future
Everyone at my work in waukesha thinks i live in a dangerous ghetto neighborhood, where there are drive bys, their ignorance is hilarious,
the beerline neigborhood is technically in riverwest, but i suppose more development should be headed its way
alterra is supposed to have their headquarters there right?
i know they recently converted the hifi lofts,
and they are supposed to put a bunch of single family houses north of locust and west of humbodlt,
mainly they are just rehabbing buildings in riverwest
midget foods looks so much better
as well as "the pub", "frank and stein" is a new hotdog place that just opened at the old polish funeral home on center, very appropriate, i havent gone there yet, but they do have free wireless
i just want MORE RETAIL on center street, its still pretty dead!
and Holton is still pretty underdeveloped, and needs work
but ive noticed quite a difference a little over a year since ive been there,

oh no, I dont think we are at our peak at all. This decade is the start of the great things to come in my opinion, one of the more memorable--however we need to settle our ghetto down for us to truly be a great city. The seeds are going to be planted in these next four years.

agreed. the projects that start in the next five years will decide the next 50 years of the City's future. this decade will certainly be thought of as one of the most important in Milwaukee's history, however, the golden age is still to come.

BTW--happy birthday MilwaukeeMark! :cheers:

Thanks Redd!

Birthday business aside, I heard from a friend about that parking lot in the third ward that we were talking about earlier. The parking lot was barricaded because the current owners of the building (SBC/ATT) had a "falling out" of sorts with the building management team. The management team abandoned the building and for the most part, people working or living in the area were just using the parking lot for free.

The city realized that this was a problem because of liability issues so they contacted the company that was working on the building re-hab and had them use their barricades to seal off the lot.

Apparently the property is for sale and there are at least two parties that are very interested in buying it. One of those parties is the construction company just to the south. They want to buy the property and re-open the parking lot. The other serious party didn't say what they wanted to do with it but appear to be leaning more on the development side of things.

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/9025/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz3cc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

This is by far my favorite project going on in the park east. I am very interested to get details on this project as a place to live myself!

Marcus Prize-winning architect issues call for high-flying ideas
Team to share edgy, environmentally sensitive approach with UWM students
By WHITNEY GOULD
wgould@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Feb. 4, 2006
For a city known for its heavy Germanic buildings, Dutch architect Winy Maas could be the equivalent of electroshock treatment.

Advertisement

Imagine Milwaukee, he urged an audience of architects, developers and civic leaders on Friday, as a sci-fi city built on cutting-edge technologies, such as cars that fly. His "Sky Car City" is just a fantasy, he admitted Friday. But as a member of the team that won the first Marcus Prize, a $100,000 architectural plum established by Milwaukee's Marcus Corporation Foundation, Maas wants to plant the seeds for futuristic thinking about urban design.

Maas, 46, generated lots of buzz in his speech to about 75 design activists at a luncheon at the Pfister Hotel.

The event was hosted by the Design Council, which advises Bob Greenstreet, dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Greenstreet is also Milwaukee's city planning director.

MVRDV, the Rotterdam architectural firm that won the Marcus Prize, had been expected to work on a specific urban design project, in addition to teaching a studio class this semester at UWM.

But Maas said he and his partners, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries, wanted instead to work with students on theoretical visions of an urban future.

"We decided we should not misuse the university for commercial purposes," he said. "A university is for ideas," a place where students can dream about "sky cars"- vehicles that fly - and other technological wonders "that dance between science and fiction."

He said the Marcus Prize "should be about risks, about experimentation."

Even so, he noted, it's possible that part of the team's work in Milwaukee could involve brainstorming about projects involving housing, infrastructure and redevelopment of the Park East corridor.

MVRDV, with work under way in New York City, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Hong Kong and other cities, is known for edgy, environmentally sensitive buildings using raw concrete, corrugated metal and other industrial materials.

In a Journal Sentinel interview last May, after the prize was announced, Maas joked that the firm saw itself as "the anti-Calatravas," working in a grittier, more earth-bound design language than that of Santiago Calatrava and Frank Gehry, both known for their buoyant, expressive forms. Maas likened those superstars to architectural "hairdressers."

Publication of that comment prompted Gehry to contact the firm and complain, "Who is this Winy?" Maas recalled. "He asked, 'Who is he calling a hairdresser? We need to talk.' " They have yet to get together, Maas said. "But who knows? Maybe I will end up teaming up with Gehry."

Greenstreet said the value of the Marcus Prize, which drew 22 competitors from nine countries in its debut go-round, is that it is the first such award to recognize architectural talents "at the beginning of their greatness."

"Most prizes tend to be given to people close to death," Greenstreet deadpanned. "We sort of know whose turn is next." This one, by contrast, can nurture tomorrow's stars and help a city like Milwaukee "visualize our future."

I dont know what to make of that article. I was hoping these architects would design something for Milwaukee. I also dont know about the whole "Sci-Fi/flying cars" thing. Dont get me wrong--I would love for Milwaukee to blend the old with futuristic design. However, this just sounds like some vision that will never get off the ground.

Yeah, I was under the impression that this Dutch firm would design something for Milwaukee. Apparantly not.

Adding to the projects mentioned earlier:

Marquette Interchange reconstruction should be counted. It is the most expensive project in the state's history, I beleive, and will change the way people enter downtown for a long time. Also count the Wisconsin Ave face lift under way, which is long over due.

We should count City Hall restoration, which also is a huge and expensive project.


It sure is nice to all this construction, and hopefully it continues for a long time.

Nearly five years after Miller Park opened for baseball, construction workers are busy transforming the right-field corner into a new fan-friendly picnic area.

The new attraction is the latest effort by the Milwaukee Brewers to bring in more groups, and is one of the biggest fan-amenity projects the team has undertaken since it first moved into the stadium in March 2001. The team is paying the entire cost of the project.

The ground-level area, which can accommodate as many as 75 fans, is located between the right-field foul pole and the power alley. The picnic area will include bar stools and tables behind the wall. A thin, chain-link 8-foot-high fence will separate fans from the rightfielder.

At one end, a large window will allow fans to watch pitchers and catchers in the visiting bullpen.

Full story at http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brew/feb06/389538.asp

Business Journal of Milwaukee - 4:04 PM CST Monday
Charter sailboat firm proposed for Milwaukee
A Whitefish Bay housepainting contractor hopes to launch a charter sailboat company on Milwaukee's lakefront that will provide rides to corporate customers and on-the-water classrooms for the new Pier Wisconsin.

To finance the startup, Curt Crain, who owns Crain Painting Contractors in Glendale, is seeking a $278,000 loan through the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp. to be combined with a $432,000 loan from Associated Bank. The MEDC's loan and finance committee will consider the request at its meeting on Tuesday.

Crain proposes purchasing a 73-foot custom cruising sailboat built in 1974 to host the charters, according to an MEDC memo. He would use the boat for corporate charters 60 percent of the sailing time and offer classes on weekday mornings. He would also like to provide sailing experiences to central city youth, the memo said.

Crain began sailboating in 1997 and holds a master of steam or motor vessels license from the U.S. Coast Guard.

MEDC is a quasi-public development agency run by the city of Milwaukee.

^keep em coming. I love the Lakefront improvements and anything nautical themed is great in my opinion.

Where would riverwest fit in? I think it will be mentioned more and more in the future
Everyone at my work in waukesha thinks i live in a dangerous ghetto neighborhood, where there are drive bys, their ignorance is hilarious,
the beerline neigborhood is technically in riverwest, but i suppose more development should be headed its way
alterra is supposed to have their headquarters there right?
i know they recently converted the hifi lofts,
and they are supposed to put a bunch of single family houses north of locust and west of humbodlt,
mainly they are just rehabbing buildings in riverwest
midget foods looks so much better
as well as "the pub", "frank and stein" is a new hotdog place that just opened at the old polish funeral home on center, very appropriate, i havent gone there yet, but they do have free wireless
i just want MORE RETAIL on center street, its still pretty dead!
and Holton is still pretty underdeveloped, and needs work
but ive noticed quite a difference a little over a year since ive been there,

While I wouldn't say Riverwest is a dangerous ghetto neighborhood, facts do not lie. Last summer was a pretty rough time for Riverwest. Numerous muggings at gunpoint, rapes (I know personally of one) and a couple of gunshot wounds/homicides in the immediate vicinity. I have numerous friends that live in Riverwest, mainly because of the cheap rent, and they too are concerned.

I spend a fair amount of time there at the bars (Riverhorse, Foundation, Circle A, Mad Planet) and there just seems to be a little more tension in the area. Summers seem to escalate the violence a bit, when teens are out of school. Hopefully some increased police presence can stop this from becoming routine.

Anyhow, in regards to development, yeah, Riverwest is seeing its fair share, and that should only continue to rise.

While I wouldn't say Riverwest is a dangerous ghetto neighborhood, facts do not lie. Last summer was a pretty rough time for Riverwest. Numerous muggings at gunpoint, rapes (I know personally of one) and a couple of gunshot wounds/homicides in the immediate vicinity. I have numerous friends that live in Riverwest, mainly because of the cheap rent, and they too are concerned.

I spend a fair amount of time there at the bars (Riverhorse, Foundation, Circle A, Mad Planet) and there just seems to be a little more tension in the area. Summers seem to escalate the violence a bit, when teens are out of school. Hopefully some increased police presence can stop this from becoming routine.

Anyhow, in regards to development, yeah, Riverwest is seeing its fair share, and that should only continue to rise.


check out riverwest currents, its the first thing you see when you google riverwest, they have a cool article showing how the beerline looked in 1957 and they have excellent drawings depicting this and the current and future development, very interesting article about how some dumbass nimbys in condos dont want too much density, im not sure how you can be nimby/condoist, seems like homeowners would be more typical nimbyer,

my local alcoholic just got evicted thank god, so the litter is much, much less than it was, he was a vortex of chaos, i did have one attempted break in over the summer, i just scared them off, i guess the dumbasses thought i would leave my windows open and then not be home, i guess some people are dumb enough to do that, otherwise ive just had some annoying panhandlers every so often, i think that over the next 5-10 years crime should drop off dramatically, and it will be a great day when riverwest finally sheds this stigma of being a horribly dangerous neighborhood,

The Common Council today approved a city financing package for Manpower Inc.'s (MAN) proposed headquarters, clearing the way for the global staffing company to move nearly 1,000 employees from Glendale and Brookfield to downtown Milwaukee.

The council voted 13-1 to approve the package, which was proposed by Mayor Tom Barrett. Ald. Mike McGee Jr. was the sole vote against; Ald. Joe Dudzik was excused.

The financing package calls for the city to borrow $25.55 million, with that amount plus $17.8 million in interest paid back over 20 years with the $78 million development's property taxes, according to the Department of City Development. Some of the debt also will be repaid through property taxes generated by the nearby Time Warner Cable regional headquarters, 1320 N. King Drive.

Of the city's funds, $18.7 million will pay for a 1,270-space parking structure, with $1.9 million funding a road along the river and a riverwalk. The proposal, which will encompass the Manpower headquarters and other buildings in a special tax-financing district, includes a $1.7 million grant and a $3 million low-interest loan to building developer Gary Grunau and his partners.

Grunau and his partners will build a 280,000-square-foot building that will be leased to Manpower along the Milwaukee River, just south of W. Cherry St. The company will move 970 full-time jobs to downtown from Glendale and Brookfield, with another 300 jobs added over five years, according to the city comptroller's office.

Also, Grunau will renovate a nearby former power plant building into 55,000 square feet of space for more than 200 employees from other businesses. That project will cost an additional $9.2 million.

Supporters of the financing package called it a good investment for Milwaukee that will help attract other development to the Park East area and other nearby neighborhoods. Opponents say it's not fair for city funds to provide free parking for Manpower employees.

Great news ! ! !

Biz Journals article (pretty similar) http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2006/02/06/daily22.html?jst=b_ln_hl

I'm a little surprised this article from the Business Journal wasn't mentioned yesterday because i found it very interesting.

'Latin Quarter' could add spice
City studying concept pushed by Hispanic leaders
Rachel McCormick-Jennings

Business leaders in Milwaukee's Hispanic community are pushing city officials to create a "Latin Quarter" that would highlight restaurants, bars and shops and to attract new businesses to the near south side neighborhood.

The article mentions who Hispanic community business leaders would go about this idea by presenting a unique urban atmospher much like the 3rd Ward has. It also states that the Hispanic population of Milwaukee as increased by 17% between 2000-2004.

http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2006/02/06/story3.html

Yeah I definitely think that the area the article mentions (mostly Walkers point down to Mitchell Blvd.) and Riverwest (to the freeway) are going to be the hot growth spots in the next couple of decades. Cool article!

The array of Latin dining options in that part of the city is growing bigtime. But to become a true Latin Quarter it will need more in the way of daytime stuff and other non-restaurant entertainment options. A Mexican grocery store, some kind of open market for Latin American food, music, clothing, a theater, either performance or film.... these are the kinds of things I hope they could attract. Then we'd really have a Latin Quarter to be proud of.

I don't think they should have too much trouble attracting these kinds of things. Hispanics are the fastest growing group in the city by far. It all starts with an organized group of people working toward a common vision, which is what they already have.

I found an updated skyline poster for Milwaukee that includes Kilbourn Tower. I've seen another version of this poster but from a more southerly angle and without Kilbourn. Can't wait to see what the skyline looks like with a completed Unversity Club Tower!

http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/935/milwaukee29vz.jpg

... just picture another tall tower just to the left of the US Bank in that photo.

It very well just maybe could possibly/probably might happen.

... just picture another tall tower just to the left of the US Bank in that photo.

It very well just maybe could possibly/probably might happen.
You mean the Lake Point Tower?! I sure hope you're right. That would be pretty cool. The UCT will add a little density to that picture as well, being to the immediate left of the KT.

Wow, just picture the Manpower headquarters in there, too.

Oh, wait...

lol Hydrogen. good one.... where can u find a poster like that? i would like to put one in my apt. any ideas?

... just picture another tall tower just to the left of the US Bank in that photo.

It very well just maybe could possibly/probably might happen.

Judging from that one rendering we saw the other week I hope not!

Have you guys seen these models of the U/C Bayshore Mall?
http://www.steiner.com/_graphics/uploads/bayshore/bay_modelview1.jpg
http://www.steiner.com/_graphics/uploads/bayshore/bay_modelview5.jpg

More shots here: BayShoreMilwaukee.com (http://www.bayshoremilwaukee.com/aboutbayshore/models.cfm)

According to the Site:
This is where the millionaires live.
Bayshore is located in the most affluent area of Milwaukee and the entire state of Wisconsin. This young, affluent trade area boasts an average household income of $100,000.

An under-retailed area no more.
1.6 million people call Milwaukee their home. Today the wealth of Wisconsin lives in an under-retailed environment; Bayshore is the only mall serving the North Shore area. Bayshore brings them the retail, dining and entertainment mix they are lacking.

Working out just got nicer @ UWM:
http://img303.imageshack.us/img303/7633/43d5160925b861324mt.jpg
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8995/43d5160925b861030tc.jpg

Larger Images Here: The Leader (http://www.uwmleader.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/01/25/43d5160925b86)

^^ oooOOOooo

An upscale supper club and the expansion of a widely popular men's barbershop are planned for Historic King Drive as highlights for the nearby Bronzeville cultural and entertainment district.

The investor group ABM Property Management, led by Corey Smith, purchased the two side-by-side vacant properties along N. King Drive between W. North and W. Garfield avenues.

Smith said the first 3,000-square-foot building, at 2213 N. King Dive, will become Sash, a supper club that will feature dining on the main floor and downstairs lounge with a patio courtyard.

The other building, at 2215 N. King Drive, will house the second site for Gee's Clippers and Hair Design, said Smith, who owns two Cup-a-Java coffee houses, one in Menomonee Falls, and a new location that will open today at 6913 W. Brown Deer Road.

Full Story http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=400464

Making manufacturing king again

OK, research will increase at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in the worthy vision of Chancellor Carlos Santiago. But in what area of research should the campus specialize to best help the regional economy boom? Santiago has come up with an answer that is superbly apt: advanced manufacturing.

In other words, a mission of the university, if all parties accept it, is to develop innovations that would help local manufacturers stay at least one step ahead of their competitors around the world. This mission is worth embracing by regional, state and UW System leaders, who must stop shortchanging the research dollars that go to the Milwaukee campus.

In many minds, manufacturing seems so yesterday. Sure, in a bygone era, smokestacks dotted the city landscape, and Milwaukee earned the nomenclature "Machine Shop to America." But many factories shuttered, as thousands lost their jobs, and the nation's industrial belt morphed into the rust belt. What's more, the future is supposed to lie in such exotic areas as the computer chip and biotech.

Remaining Article:JSonline.com (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=400683)

The editorial doesn't mention UWM's $100,000,000 campaign.
____________________________________________________

More asbestos adds to annex razing costs
Additional $1.7 million likely needed

The belated discovery of an entire floor of asbestos insulation could add $1.7 million to the $5.2 million cost of demolishing the Milwaukee County Courthouse Annex over I-43, county officials said Friday.

The estimated 33% overrun in the first week of the project stunned county officials who debated for more than a year over the costs and benefits of taking down the parking and office structure.

Remaining Article: JSonline.com (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=400761)

Section of freeway might be rebuilt as a 'gateway'

The Airport Spur could become less of a freeway and more of a gateway, state Department of Transportation engineers said.

Rebuilding the 1.5-mile-long spur between I-94 and Mitchell International Airport is part of a much larger $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion project to rebuild 35 miles of I-94, from Milwaukee's south side to the Illinois line.

Speaking at the last of four workshops on the I-94 job last week, project supervisor Robert Gutierrez said that one possibility is to turn the spur into "a boulevard of sorts."

Full JS story at http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=401136

That's true area wise Milwaukee's downtown is much larger, just that Dallas has a lot more skyscrapers. It would be interesting to compare the two cities and their respective office vacany rates, I would think Dallas has a much higher vacancy rate, given that their downtown is so empty and lifeless, not even a shopping mall, or shopping street for that matter.
historybuffer, you raised an interesting question. So I did a little research in regards to the office vacancy rates of the Central Business District of both Milwaukee and Dallas.
Here's what I found:

Milwaukee; 15.8% (Source: Milwaukee Bizspace, dated 12/19/05)
Dallas; 28.3% (Source: RealEstateJournal.com, dated 7/28/05)

Granted, the percentage figures are roughly five to six months apart. However, because of the gap of 12.5% between the two cities's CBD, a six month gap was not going to create a significant difference in the results. Based on what I've discovered here, it looks like Milwaukee's downtown CBD is much healthier than Dallas's. Milwaukee's CBD is much larger and has a much smaller office vacancy rate.

Another feather in Milwaukee's cap! So historybuffer, your thoughts were right on the money.

some thoughts
bayshore- that is an amazing mall, the milwaukee metro area really needs this to add unique shopping experiences.
"the gateway" to the airport- hopefully this will create extra "greenspace" for a few more hotels to pop up around the airport. I wish,....they would create some sort of train model that would connect closer to the airport that would link to downtown..oh well thats not going to happen anytime soon!
UCT- has almost reached the top of the Kilbourne! i am so excited so see this tower be completed! 2007 will be great...with the new UCT and completed lakshore state park/pier wisconsin!

some thoughts
bayshore- that is an amazing mall, the milwaukee metro area really needs this to add unique shopping experiences.

Meh, I think downtown Milwaukee could use a unique shopping experience before nearby suburbs come up with their super-shopping-malls. Its unfortunate to see Grand Ave. merely half of what it used to be. Will the influx of people (condo boom) have any effect on the tenants at Grand Ave.? Remains to be seen. But Gap closed its doors recently, so that isn't a good sign.

Thanx for the followup Oshkosh.

Meh, I think downtown Milwaukee could use a unique shopping experience before nearby suburbs come up with their super-shopping-malls. Its unfortunate to see Grand Ave. merely half of what it used to be. Will the influx of people (condo boom) have any effect on the tenants at Grand Ave.? Remains to be seen. But Gap closed its doors recently, so that isn't a good sign.

yeah why not play up the historic aspects of the plankinton arcade. Fanuiel Hall in Boston (obviously because of the founding of this country) definitely is a big draw for tourists. Nothing in the burbs comes close to the downtown MKE arcade, make it for tourists. what do tourists want, since it doesnt seem like the GA can compete with the burbs.

Use the streets like Jefferson, MKE st, and Broadway for retail, small, locally owned boutiques, akin to Brady Street, catering to the urban dweller, more upscale. Look at Oak Street in Chicago or Boston's Newberry Street for real urban retail.

Meh, I think downtown Milwaukee could use a unique shopping experience before nearby suburbs come up with their super-shopping-malls. Its unfortunate to see Grand Ave. merely half of what it used to be. Will the influx of people (condo boom) have any effect on the tenants at Grand Ave.? Remains to be seen. But Gap closed its doors recently, so that isn't a good sign.

Yeah, but you have to look at other cities and the unpopularity of downtown malls. Its just not working out, people do not want to travel downtown just for an enclosed mall that you have to pay extra money for parking. Malls are for suburbs IMO, Milwaukee needs more shops that allow you to enter from the street. Im not saying its impossible for a mall to prosper, I would love to see the Grand Ave flourish, and with the condo boom (like you stated) it may just come to be. Who needs gap anyways!? maybe we can get a better tenant to take their place in the near future...lets hope!

yeah why not play up the historic aspects of the plankinton arcade. Fanuiel Hall in Boston (obviously because of the founding of this country) definitely is a big draw for tourists. Nothing in the burbs comes close to the downtown MKE arcade, make it for tourists. what do tourists want, since it doesnt seem like the GA can compete with the burbs.

Use the streets like Jefferson, MKE st, and Broadway for retail, small, locally owned boutiques, akin to Brady Street, catering to the urban dweller, more upscale. Look at Oak Street in Chicago or Boston's Newberry Street for real urban retail.

or just get a target :jk: is that still being processed? or was it denied

Yeah, but you have to look at other cities and the unpopularity of downtown malls. Its just not working out, people do not want to travel downtown just for an enclosed mall that you have to pay extra money for parking. Malls are for suburbs IMO, Milwaukee needs more shops that allow you to enter from the street. Im not saying its impossible for a mall to prosper, I would love to see the Grand Ave flourish, and with the condo boom (like you stated) it may just come to be. Who needs gap anyways!? maybe we can get a better tenant to take their place in the near future...lets hope!

Agreed. What a lot of people haven't noticed with the slow decline of the Grand Avenue is the rise of the Third Ward as a bona fide shopping destintation. There are shops springing up in the Third Ward that you don't find in malls. That should be Downtown's niche -- not replicating the suburban mall but rather filling the streets with shopping options that are unavailable in suburban malls. We're definately not there yet in Downtown Milwaukee but I think we should encourage more Third Ward-style stuff than get bent out of shape when the Gap closes at the Grand.

Yeah, but you have to look at other cities and the unpopularity of downtown malls. Its just not working out, people do not want to travel downtown just for an enclosed mall that you have to pay extra money for parking. Malls are for suburbs IMO, Milwaukee needs more shops that allow you to enter from the street. Im not saying its impossible for a mall to prosper, I would love to see the Grand Ave flourish, and with the condo boom (like you stated) it may just come to be. Who needs gap anyways!? maybe we can get a better tenant to take their place in the near future...lets hope!

Oh, I totally agree the downtown shopping mall concept is dying (except for Chicago?). I also agree with you and historybuffer that a Newberry-esk street in Milwaukee would be incredible, but it will likely never happen. The Third Ward offers some non-big-name shops that are fun to look at. Brady St. has a couple of no-name clothing stores that sell high-end clothes, but unfortunately the store name is what is important to a lot of people.

Yeah, but you have to look at other cities and the unpopularity of downtown malls. Its just not working out, people do not want to travel downtown just for an enclosed mall that you have to pay extra money for parking. Malls are for suburbs IMO, Milwaukee needs more shops that allow you to enter from the street. Im not saying its impossible for a mall to prosper, I would love to see the Grand Ave flourish, and with the condo boom (like you stated) it may just come to be. Who needs gap anyways!? maybe we can get a better tenant to take their place in the near future...lets hope!

agreed, i think the place to look for new street level retail is...you heard it here first...Postman Square, where Plankinton, Wells and 2nd merge. Here you have gorgeous old buildings that are mostly vacant on the first floor, and a few empy lots that could house large retailers with hotel/condo/office above. It is also centrally located between all of the theaters, Bradley Center, Midwest Express Center, Grand Avenue and most major hotels. This is where you put your Apple Store, Banana Republic, H&M, etc.

Someone just needs to buy it all at once and do this.

Is it me or is the Parkway extension south of Layton a little off base? I recommend that in addition to the left split to Penn Ave., there should be a split right underground the runways, surfacing in the area between Howell and the Terminals. It seems rinky-dink that you have to get off at Layton and drive around the airport to get to the Terminals. Forget going all the way south to Penn Ave and circling south of the airport and back north on Howell.

I modern seamless drive for visitors from the airport to Downdown via the Parkway is the right image to project. The view from the Parkway is the best view of Downtown.

agreed, i think the place to look for new street level retail is...you heard it here first...Postman Square, where Plankinton, Wells and 2nd merge. Here you have gorgeous old buildings that are mostly vacant on the first floor, and a few empy lots that could house large retailers with hotel/condo/office above. It is also centrally located between all of the theaters, Bradley Center, Midwest Express Center, Grand Avenue and most major hotels. This is where you put your Apple Store, Banana Republic, H&M, etc.

Someone just needs to buy it all at once and do this.

Yeah i totally agree, is this the square that is by renaissance books?
im not with doomer, im from chicago, and i have survived many a gentrification down there, and there is NO FUCKIN way that downtown milwaukee isnt going to have some boutiques and great commercial retail as time goes by,

That kindof defeatist thinking is strange, the third ward is nice and all, and is seen by the suburban ignoramuses as some amazing place and like the only safe place to live in the city, but its JUST THE BEGINNING! jeez, i wouldnt own a duplex in riverwest if i listened to all the deafist jibber jabber of my coworkers in waukesha, and yeah someone just got shot down the street, am i scared? nope, the suburban ignoramuses are the typical demographic that developers cater to, people that cant take risks, and are with not much imagination, and they are always the LAST to catch on and get with it,

you already have a decent sushi place on milwaukee street, sakittome or something, this is the beginnings for the area, its going to take off, dont worry, gentrification is an inexorable force like the nothing in the neverending story, and with gentrification comes, better retail, its something that we'll just have to learn to deal with,

I know there was some presumption discussed here about the possibility of a helicopter landing pad on top of the new U.S. Bank tower. Presumptions confirmed by a pretty reputable source http://www.milwaukeeworld.com check out the news stories from February 14th. Could be something Milwaukee has never seen before, at least downtown.

Some updates.. Target's plans haven't really been discussed yet. I know there weren't looking to make a decision anytime soon.. the building they may be a part of hasn't to my knowledge even started presales yet.

Oh and while on my lunch today I passed the Grand Ave Sam Goody and noticed that is closing as well.. The recent closings have somewhat suprised me.. I thought the new owner would turn the mall around...

I know there was some presumption discussed here about the possibility of a helicopter landing pad on top of the new U.S. Bank tower. Presumptions confirmed by a pretty reputable source http://www.milwaukeeworld.com check out the news stories from February 14th. Could be something Milwaukee has never seen before, at least downtown.

Interesting. It says that US Bank will request a zoning variance for a helipad at the BOZA hearing on Feb. 23. And according to Michael Horne it's 41 to 45 stories. The fact that they're asking for a variance is a good sign at this point.

Is it me or is the Parkway extension south of Layton a little off base? I recommend that in addition to the left split to Penn Ave., there should be a split right underground the runways, surfacing in the area between Howell and the Terminals. It seems rinky-dink that you have to get off at Layton and drive around the airport to get to the Terminals. Forget going all the way south to Penn Ave and circling south of the airport and back north on Howell.

I modern seamless drive for visitors from the airport to Downdown via the Parkway is the right image to project. The view from the Parkway is the best view of Downtown.

That's a good idea, but it probably won't happen, well, nowhere in the near future.



BTW, the reason it ends at Penn. Ave is because that was the original plan. But it never got built (until a couple of months ago) because of some sort of land dispute. You could tell when it ended at Layton that that's not where it was supposed to end.

Could anyone out there post the url to the site of the Chicago architectural firm that drew up designs for the 'twin tower' with the helipad? Thanks in advance.

Oh and while on my lunch today I passed the Grand Ave Sam Goody and noticed that is closing as well.. The recent closings have somewhat suprised me.. I thought the new owner would turn the mall around...

I think the new owners have done a great job. The once dormant Plankinton Arcade is now the busiest part of the mall (IMO). The additions of Old Navy, TJ Maxx, Linens N Things, Lane Bryant and Chocolate Factory have really revived the arcade. The new owners have increased the customer base, that's the first step in luring retailers.

Yes they're not upscale, but they're constantly busy. My friend, who's an employee of Old Navy, told me the Grand Ave location is constantly ranked one of the highest in the company (over a thousand stores) for reaching their sales goals. If you're familar with retail, that's a big deal.

Could anyone out there post the url to the site of the Chicago architectural firm that drew up designs for the 'twin tower' with the helipad? Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Markitect
Yes.

Go to the Halvorson & Partners (structural engineers) website http://www.halvorsonandpartners.com/ . Click on "News," then click on "In Design," then navigate through the project renderings/descriptions until you reach Lake Point Tower. It's not a very big rendering, nor is it a final design, but what they've got is a very interesting non-typical-to-Milwaukee, and non-boxy, tower. It's mixed-use--hotel at the bottom, offices in the middle, and residential at the top--a neat way to use the different sized floor plates for each type of use to give the tower a "bulging" profile.

The parkway extension has been disputed for several years. It was absolutely i need after the exploding business park just east of the airport in Cudahy. So basically, its main upbringing was to allow the all the trucking companies and businesses to move more fluently with the day to day commuters. It was an absolute mess trying to get on the parkway on layton and penn. But i agree, to get to our terminal its way to tricky and not very visitor friendly... Maybe the new talk of redoing the airport freeway will help that cause. I do not see a tunnel being necessary.

GE Healthcare officially opens a new site in Wauwatosa today in a move that marks another milestone in its longstanding commitment to southeastern Wisconsin.

The $85 million building in the Milwaukee County Research Park will be the global headquarters for two of GE Healthcare's six business units - clinical systems and interventional, cardiology and surgery. It also will be the location for GE Healthcare's information technology department.

In all, about 2,000 people will work in the new building in areas ranging from research and development and product design to human resources and finance. GE Healthcare began moving about 200 employees a week to the new site from Waukesha earlier this month.

Full story at http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=401576

I think the new owners have done a great job. The once dormant Plankinton Arcade is now the busiest part of the mall (IMO). The additions of Old Navy, TJ Maxx, Linens N Things, Lane Bryant and Chocolate Factory have really revived the arcade. The new owners have increased the customer base, that's the first step in luring retailers.

The recent remodeling of the mall and addition of those newer tenants all happened under the previous mall ownership.

The new owner just bought the place a few months ago.

Looks like this may have been a little premature...

From the "breaking news" section of today's Small Business Times:

Lake Point Tower plan may include helipad
Originally published 2006-02-15 00:00:00
Lake Point Tower, the proposed high-rise building that could be constructed next to the U.S. Bank Center in downtown Milwaukee, could feature a helicopter landing pad on its rooftop.

U.S. Bank and JBK Properties Inc. are looking for an anchor tenant for the building, which would be constructed at 815 E. Michigan Ave.

On Tuesday, the city released an agenda for the Feb. 23 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting that included a "request to construct a mixed-use (residential, commercial, office) high-rise building (41 to 45 stories) with a helicopter landing facility on site, that is over the maximum allowed floor area ratio permitted by code."

John Kuhn, president of JBK Properties, said the request should not have been included on the board's meeting agenda.

"I don't know how that got on there," Kuhn said, adding, "Until there is a viable anchor tenant, there is not project and there is nothing to talk about."

In December, Kahler Slater, the architect for Lake Point Tower, requested the item seeking a dimensional variance for the helipad be placed on the agenda, said Milwaukee Department of City Development spokeswoman Andrea Rowe Richards. This morning, Kahler Slater asked that the request be withdrawn from the agenda, she said.

Lake Point Tower was one three finalists to be the headquarters for the Godfrey & Kahn S.C. offices, but the law firm decided to stay in the M&I Bank building at 780 N. Water St., where the firm occupies about 82,000 square feet of space.

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., which leases about 260,000 square feet at the U.S. Bank Center, is considering its future office space options and could move to Lake Point Tower, according to real estate sources. Baird could stay in the U.S. Bank Center, move to a new building or move only its 100,000-square-foot operations center to a new location.

JBK has responded to Baird's request for proposals for office space, said Joe Ullrich, vice president of corporate real estate for U.S. Bank.

Lake Point Tower would be a mixed-use building which could include office, residential, hotel and retail space. To view a preliminary rendering of the building, go to www.halvorsonandpartners.com, click on "news," then click on "in design," and then scroll through the buildings to the Lake Point Tower rendering.

The recent remodeling of the mall and addition of those newer tenants all happened under the previous mall ownership.

The new owner just bought the place a few months ago.

Kudos to the previous ownership then.

John Kuhn, president of JBK Properties, said the request should not have been included on the board's meeting agenda.

"I don't know how that got on there," Kuhn said, adding, "Until there is a viable anchor tenant, there is not project and there is nothing to talk about."

DAMN.

Yeah i totally agree, is this the square that is by renaissance books?
im not with doomer, im from chicago, and i have survived many a gentrification down there, and there is NO FUCKIN way that downtown milwaukee isnt going to have some boutiques and great commercial retail as time goes by,


Easy there, I'm all for downtown revitalization (I wouldn't be here if I wasn't, hell I live down here!) but with our history and certain people in office and certain figureheads in the city, its easy to see the closing of Gap and other stores in Grand Ave (even though I don't really shop at the Gap) as a step in the wrong direction. That's all I'm saying. I'd love retail to hit Milwaukee like nothing else, but its going to take more than one store opening somewhere every couple of years to attract visitors. Like someone mentioned above, someone just needs to buy that whole Postman square retail area and do it at once. Unlikely, but having 3 or 4 places to visit to start off with would be better than one.

Easy there, I'm all for downtown revitalization (I wouldn't be here if I wasn't, hell I live down here!) but with our history and certain people in office and certain figureheads in the city, its easy to see the closing of Gap and other stores in Grand Ave (even though I don't really shop at the Gap) as a step in the wrong direction. That's all I'm saying. I'd love retail to hit Milwaukee like nothing else, but its going to take more than one store opening somewhere every couple of years to attract visitors. Like someone mentioned above, someone just needs to buy that whole Postman square retail area and do it at once. Unlikely, but having 3 or 4 places to visit to start off with would be better than one.


grand ave is a primitve back to the city mall like century mall in chicago was at clark and diversy, its merely a step in the evolution of retail rebirth,
it will happen, there is upscale restaurants in the area, there is no reason why there wont be upscale other retail, i also dont think everything needs to be done at once, there can be one catalyst that sets it all off, i think there already is enough there to catalyze the rest, but things move slower in milwaukee, enjoy the moment, enjoy the fact that you are witnessing the rebirth of the downtown and the city at large,

so grand ave mall is a pit, and its doomed as it exists right now,
it can be improved and retrofitted to make more sense, but if it up and fails i wont be up at night wondering if downtown milwaukee will make it,
it will,

sorry to be so vehement, its just that i have seen SO MANY TURNAROUNDS IN MY LIFE and this is what its like before it completely turns around, there are so many naysayers and when it turns around everyone says oh yeah i knew that would happen or they are so surprised, jeez im 32 and old enough to have seen alot of shit change, and this is the calm before the storm,

you'll have to forgive me if someone else said the following as I haven't followed all the thread:

I think you need to give the Grand Avenue credit for more than just what it did to revive retailing during the heart of its era in the heart of downtown Milw.

I'd say its greatest attribute for the beautiful restoration it did on the eastern portion of the property (I'm probably wrong the spelling: the Plinkerton Arcade?), a classic piece of work that will serve the city for years after the Grand Avenue is forgetten.

One has to wonder how much more successful this develpment would have been if its eastern department store had had more stability. It linked up with Gilmbels during that chain's dying days and then had the misfortune of having Marshall Field's come on board (when it became clear, in time, that all Field's cared about in Milw was its own baby, Mayfair, and not acquired propertiies). With the closing of Field's, BS wasn't enough of a draw for a one anchor mall. I wonder if the deptartment store site hadn't been redeveloped as Borders....would Macy's have been interested in coming on board. For the extensive way that Macy's markets itself, I don't think it is logical to think that Milwaukee will only have the Mayfair store; that makes little sense when you consider how Macy's will penetrate Chgo, M/SP, Detroit.

the problem with the Grand Avenue recently, is that you can't tell what's in it from the street, besides Linen's 'n Things, TJMaxx, Old Navy, OfficeMax and Boston Store. I doubt most people even knew there was a Gap there. Stores like the Gap should have direct access to a street entrance, thus making Postman Square the perfect place for this.

I'd like to see Grand Avenue continue to add more of the large-scale retailers that open up to the street. Also, the place where Express used to be is a good location for another larger retailer that can have windows or signs on Wisconsin. There are also plenty of spaces on the north side of Wisconsin Ave. for better retail. Wisconsin needs to become active/shopping on both sides, and I think it is heading in that direction.

The problem with Grand Ave. is that its geared towards young African- Americans and those into an urban lifestyle--not your average woman who will look for better, safer shopping at Mayfair, Bayshore, Southridge, or Brookfield Square. To be quite honest, there really is nothing great about Grand Ave. Mall in my opinion...outside that Milwaukee store, the food court, and some of small specialty shops.

And Grand Ave is not exactly the type of mall to take the family. Last time I was there, I had guys come up to me and my friend asking us if we wanted some weed. Ive had people come to me there asking me if I could give the ticket to the Bucks game I intended to see that night. There was a pack of children begging for money, hitting on women, and a guy actually came up to me once trying to sell me condoms. Its a cool location and a cool building--but for this mall to strive--we need to kick these idiots out and send them packing to Midtown Center or "The Milwaukee Mall."

The problem with Grand Ave. is that its geared towards young African- Americans and those into an urban lifestyle--not your average woman who will look for better, safer shopping at Mayfair, Bayshore, Southridge, or Brookfield Square. To be quite honest, there really is nothing great about Grand Ave. Mall in my opinion...outside that Milwaukee store, the food court, and some of small specialty shops.

And Grand Ave is not exactly the type of mall to take the family. Last time I was there, I had guys come up to me and my friend asking us if we wanted some weed. Ive had people come to me there asking me if I could give the ticket to the Bucks game I intended to see that night. There was a pack of children begging for money, hitting on women, and a guy actually came up to me once trying to sell me condoms. Its a cool location and a cool building--but for this mall to strive--we need to kick these idiots out and send them packing to Midtown Center or "The Milwaukee Mall."

that's weird, i think grand ave has done a 180 in the last 5 years. i go there a few times a week and think the crowd has cleaned up quite a bit. a lot of marquette students and downtown residents.

that's weird, i think grand ave has done a 180 in the last 5 years. i go there a few times a week and think the crowd has cleaned up quite a bit. a lot of marquette students and downtown residents.

I wouldnt be too sure about that. Its probally gotten a little better--but its nothing to be uber-proud of. The thug element still exsists and is large enough to drive away the people who buy things.

I wouldnt be too sure about that. Its probally gotten a little better--but its nothing to be uber-proud of. The thug element still exsists and is large enough to drive away the people who buy things.

i'm just saying, go down on a saturday afternoon and the majority of the people there are young couples, college students or families. i'm not trying to exagerate, but I have been pleasantly surprised over the past year in particular. with that said, their still aren't enough good stores that cater to that market.

i buy things there all the time, as do most of my friends. grand ave's reputation is much worst than the reality.

i'm just saying, go down on a saturday afternoon and the majority of the people there are young couples, college students or families. i'm not trying to exagerate, but I have been pleasantly surprised over the past year in particular. with that said, their still aren't enough good stores that cater to that market.

i buy things there all the time, as do most of my friends. grand ave's reputation is much worst than the reality.

I completely agree.

I've been going to the Grand for years and never have any of the things Redd described happened to me personally. It's a diverse crowd at the Grand, no question, and many stores do specifically cater to African Americans. But to me that's a good thing.

One time I saw a kid smoking weed right in front of the Grand on Wisconsin Avenue. I was shocked that this kid felt comfortable enough in that setting to just toke up right out in the open. I'm sure those kinds of things aren't unheard of at suburban malls, though.

I agree with both sides of the argument on the Grand. I think the majority of the young couples/proffesionals spend their time on the Plankinton Arcade, while the urban crowd tends to hit the other side. In true Milwaukee fashion there's a segregation of the Grand; Just an observance.

And Grand Ave is not exactly the type of mall to take the family. Last time I was there, I had guys come up to me and my friend asking us if we wanted some weed. Ive had people come to me there asking me if I could give the ticket to the Bucks game I intended to see that night. There was a pack of children begging for money, hitting on women, and a guy actually came up to me once trying to sell me condoms. Its a cool location and a cool building--but for this mall to strive--we need to kick these idiots out and send them packing to Midtown Center or "The Milwaukee Mall."


I'm a young black male, and I hate the fact that a few idiots like the ones you mentioned screw things up for the rest of us :no:



I don't wanna turn this into a race issue, BTW

I'm a young black male, and I hate the fact that a few idiots like the ones you mentioned screw things up for the rest of us :no:



I don't wanna turn this into a race issue, BTW

its not a race issue....its just that 99 percent of the thugs who hang out at the Grand happen to be black. There are many white boys and Latinos who do the same shit too---even some of the younger gangbangin Asians and Hmongs. Its close to the North side neighborhoods--so this is whats going to happen. And I had little doubt that these same ass clowns would ruin Game Works at Pabst City.

Many black folk in Milwaukee dislike these people too--and will avoid places where they are just like the stereotypical sububanite. Those few idiots due screw up things for us unfortunaly--whether it be selling crack, knocking up every woman in sight, and ruining shopping destinations.

i'm just saying, go down on a saturday afternoon and the majority of the people there are young couples, college students or families. i'm not trying to exagerate, but I have been pleasantly surprised over the past year in particular. with that said, their still aren't enough good stores that cater to that market.

i buy things there all the time, as do most of my friends. grand ave's reputation is much worst than the reality.

well a Saturday morning is a different situation lol. I used to eat my lunch at the Grand while attending MATC...and there were no problems except the beggars who plaugue that area. Lots of business people are down there too during the days. However, at night--a much different situation. Alot of teens and kids jumped on the bus and hang out down there with no supervision...causing problems. I have no problem with it, for christsake its a mall....but many other people dont feel the same way as us---and will head for Mayfair. Speaking of Mayfair, its ridicolous that I can find closer to the mall, free parking downtown than at Mayfair with its huge lots.

and going back to Grand Ave. stores...

There really isnt a draw to the mall. Like I mentioned, there is that awesome Milwaukee shop that sells all kinds of hilarious and unique Milwaukee and beer t-shirts. There is also that cool store that sells all kinds of Asian stuff and the Museum shop....but other than that? Sam Goody, Suncoast, Boston Store, Walgreens? Who is going to trek downtown to go there?

Perhaps when the condo boom people move in downtown--better stores will come. Like others have said, the best place to shop close to downtown now is the Third Ward, Brady St., Oakland/Farwell/North, and Mitchell St. There really are only a handful of places I would shop downtown--ie. Borders, Downtown Books, the Army Surplus Store on Wisconsin Ave, and that fancy clothes shop by the Pfister. If I was black, I would shop at the store selling the snazy suits across from Grand Ave.---sorry but us white people cant pull off suits like that. Well, maybe Al Capone or somebody who lived in 1930-1940.

I just happened to be at Grand Ave Mall twice in the past week, and I was actually kind of surprised at how nice it was. I didn't experience anything bad at all. This was during weekdays at around 6pm.

And I'm a suburbanite who only really goes to Brookfield Square. Grand Ave is fine - it just needs a few better stores.

Okay, it's time to move this thread to the OnMilwaukee.com forum. Isn't this an architecture/construction forum?

^bah, OnMilwaukee is not a good forum for discussions---due to having to click on a new page to view every message. Plus, there are so many negative jackasses on OMC. They had an "Edge-Beerline" article and people were just bitching about how bad the Beerline is and how they should have made it better.

and here is an interesting article from OMC. Bronzeville is sounding very promising!

Bronzeville district adds Garfield's 502 to club repertoire
By Julie Lawrence
Friday, Feb. 10 marked the grand opening of Bronzeville's newest entertainment and dining establishment, Garfield's 502, a music club and restaurant at 502 W. Garfield St.

Completing the two-year project, co-owners LaMarr Franklin and Jewel Currie celebrated by inviting Mayor Tom Barrett and Alderman Michael McGee Jr. to lead the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the club Friday.

Garfield's 502 is freshly remodeled, spacious and classy with a long, beautiful wood bar, plenty of table seating and a hardwood stage area for live music.

For the community, the site holds a lot of history. As the former Boobie's Place, a cultural institution and legendary blues bar founded by Everette "Boobie" Moore, Garfield's 502 will uphold the tradition of hosting live music on Friday nights.

"The music we have is old-school," says Franklin. "A little R&B, a little reggae, and it's all local musicians."

Despite the focus on music, however, Franklin says that he and Currie are looking to establish their place as more of a restaurant. Chef Gus Kelly -- the dean of culinary arts at MATC for 30 years -- serves lunch and dinner seven days a week at Garfield's 502, with the menu ranging from $6 sandwiches (burgers, cold cuts, steak) to $14 jumbo shrimp dinners. The kitchen is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. during the week, and stays open until 11 p.m. on the weekends.

The club, which first opened its doors on Jan. 1, is a big celebration for the community and the city officials involved in rejuvenating the Bronzeville district -- the neighborhood surrounding North Avenue from Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive to North 7th Street.

"The City is committed to Bronzeville," says Barrett. With a $3.6 million TIF designated to supporting developments and new businesses in the area, Barrett says that Garfield's 502 is one of the first of many investments sought to enhance the quality of life in the community.

The club's slogan -- "Swinging into the Future" -- also works as an accurate motto for a neighborhood on the rebound.

"It's taken some time, and we've all been patient, but Bronzeville is alive and well," says McGee. "Garfield's 502 is the catalyst and we're going to continue work with the City to bring more revitalization to this area."

Upstairs from the restaurant, co-owner Currie is custom designing his soon-to-be new living quarters. "Opening Garfield's 502 had a dual purpose for me," he says. "I didn't just want to open a bar in this neighborhood, I wanted to be able to do everything -- work, live, shop -- in this neighborhood."

And downstairs, Currie and Franklin are converting the building's basement into a "community room," which the public can utilize for business meetings, gatherings and small parties, free of charge. "We'll have a projection screen, video equipment and another bar down there," says Currie. The whole building, he adds, will have free WiFi.

"I want the people in the community to feel welcome here, no matter if they're looking to start their day with a business lunch or cap it off with dinner and a drink."

and going back to Grand Ave. stores...
the Museum shop.....

Closed

but other than that? Sam Goody, Suncoast..

Both closed.

If I was black, I would shop at the store selling the snazy suits across from Grand Ave.---sorry but us white people cant pull off suits like that. Well, maybe Al Capone or somebody who lived in 1930-1940.

LOL.. so true

That's exactly what I have been saying for years, that square where the Germania
blg, if they could either get the Rennaisance Book guy to remove that brontosaurus size
sign would be awesome. Imagine if a private donor put up the money, bought the Germania, and retro-fitted it for the Florentine Opera. Personally I dislike opera a great deal, but the building would look really cool, like the L'Opera by Guarnier in Paris.

The problem isn't about mix of stores or the "type" of clientele. The problem is about loitering. When you get people loitering in a retail environment bad things happen. This goes for suburban AND urban shopping areas. What if you were in a cowtown in Montana and you saw a bunch of young guys standing around on the Main Street doing nothing, just loitering? I would certainly avoid those guys in that situation.

The trouble with loitering is that it's so hard for the police to stop. You can have a bunch of kids standing around intimidating people, then as soon as they see a squad car they go into a store and start to "shop," or disperse. The cop can't do anything because shopping or walking down the street isn't illegal. Then the cop is gone and the kids go back to loitering and causing problems.

Okay, it's time to move this thread to the OnMilwaukee.com forum. Isn't this an architecture/construction forum?

Fuck OnMilwaukee.com. They completly lost all credibility for me last summer when they ran their histrionic diatribe blasting the Council for voting down PabstCity. You can be for or against PabstCity, but they didn't do anyone any favors by ripping the city a new one for squelching the deal. They fan the flames of this deep-seeded Milwaukee inferiority thing. ... "oh this city can't do anything right, oh we're too risk-averse, oh we're falling behind all these other cities, blah blah blah." Then accordingly 90% of the people on the talkbalk boards echo what OMC wrote in the "editorial" and then it turns into an "woe is us" Milwaukee inferiority-fest. What gets lost is a sense of perspective. People don't go on OMC to discuss real issues, they go on there to bitch about how "this city can't do anything right" without discussing the real matter: namely the quality or lack thereof of the PabstCity proposal.

I have posted several comments on OMC pointing out how their "editorials" are ridiculous, poorly researched and superficial. The editors of the talkback boards never post these comments. OnMilwaukee.com is a good place to go see what's happening this weekend, but as a place to discuss issues that face our city it's complete BS.

Arena Football League might return to Bradley Center
By DON WALKER
dwalker@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Feb. 16, 2006
Milwaukee has not had an Arena Football League franchise since 2001, but there is talk of new efforts to land a team that would play at the Bradley Center.

Former Packer Brian Noble leads a group looking to bring an AFL franchise back to Milwaukee.

One group working to bring an AFL franchise back to Milwaukee is led by former Green Bay Packers linebacker Brian Noble. Noble, a part-owner of the Green Bay Blizzard, a team in the smaller Arena Football League 2, said Thursday that his group had been in preliminary talks with Arena Football League officials.
heres more of the article (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=402184)

By WHITNEY GOULD

In the densely populated Riverwest community, every square inch of open
space is precious. Soon, residents will get a big green dividend: After years of planning and consensus-building, a scenic hill encompassing an abandoned reservoir will finally become a 29-acre neighborhood park, perhaps as early as this summer.

Full story at http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=402159

that park is right down the street from me,
it reminds me how jonquil park in chicago used to be, in that it was really old, and outdated, but i find it charming that way, but its good that they modernize it,
i hope that they dont ruin the hill, i guess they have to make it more walkable or something, playgrounds like that havent been seen around on the northside of chicago for 20 some years, really interesting to see such old equipment,
who the hell thought it was a good idea to build a metal giraffe, the kid climbs up and then ? falls to the ground? huh?
i will have to take pictures of it before it changes,

First Place on the River looks like it went through a slight design change. I actually think it looks very cool.

a couple nice pictures on this site if you havent seen it yet.

First Place on the River website (http://www.firstplacemilwaukee.com/)

First Place on the River looks like it went through a slight design change. I actually think it looks very cool.

a couple nice pictures on this site if you havent seen it yet.

First Place on the River website (http://www.firstplacemilwaukee.com/)


I thought the renderings always looked like that?

The First Place designs have changed considerably.

I like the new designs and I'm really excited about this development.

There was a piece in the business journal about new activity on South Second Street. Looks like the old warehouses immediately behind First Place are on the sale block:

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2006/02/20/story2.html

I found some nice renderings for the new Chimney Park being developed in the Menominee Valley. It looks quite green and expansive!

See the renderings (http://www.renewthevalley.org/files/pdf/Park_Renderings.pdf)

Guys, help me understand something. We've had a couple new parks mentioned in this thread within the past few days. And everybody seems to think the renderings look great, and they do by the way. But I've also read where a number of postings complained about the maintenance and upkeep problems regarding the Milwaukee County Parks. My question is, why develop more parks when there's no money to properly mantain what we already have. Are these two new parks going to be developed and maintained by the city or the county? If it is the county, where is the money all of a sudden coming from, and wouldn't that money be more wisely spent bringing the existing parks back from the state of disrepair?

As far as I know, all parks are county parks

No, not all parks are County Parks (the ones that are can be found here (http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/display/router.asp?docid=7720)).

The new parks being mentioned recently--Erie Street Plaza, Kilbourn Park expansion, and Menomonee Valley parks--are all City projects. They are not part of the Milwaukee County Park System and therefore are not reliant upon the County government.

Thank you, Markitect.

Harley unveils their museum plans on Friday. Who's excited?

^I am! I hope its a great improvement over the original design. However, this is going to be a great addition to Milwaukee and the Valley, regardless of architecutral design.

I am really excited!!

Harley unveils their museum plans on Friday. Who's excited?

I'm eager to see the plans. I am cautiously optomistic. I am on the edge of my seat.

That will be very interesting to see what museum design they've come up with. I'm hoping that it will be a more inspiring effort when compared to the new Manpower headquarters.

That will be very interesting to see what museum design they've come up with. I'm hoping that it will be a more inspiring effort when compared to the new Manpower headquarters.

Oh man, I hope it's better than the Manpower design. We can't have another major Fortune 500 company build something that looks like a community college in Kenosha!

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with an engineer who is working on the HD museum project. Without prompting he talked about how the design is "really really cool" and he said it's going to blow everyone away. Hopefully he knows what he's talking about, and he has good enough taste to know what's going to "blow everyone away."

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with an engineer who is working on the HD museum project. Without prompting he talked about how the design is "really really cool" and he said it's going to blow everyone away. Hopefully he knows what he's talking about, and he has good enough taste to know what's going to "blow everyone away."

That kind of talk gets me excitied. I am so excited that I may blow up into confetti like Mimi Bobeks head in that one espisode of Drew Carey. I hope we arent let down by Harley of all places.

That kind of talk gets me excitied. I am so excited that I may blow up into confetti like Mimi Bobeks head in that one espisode of Drew Carey. I hope we arent let down by Harley of all places.
I think cautious optimism is what's needed here. Afterall, it was Harley Davidson who selected Elton John as the headline act during their 100th Anniversary Concert in 2003! The reaction by the bikers was to leave in droves once they realized who the headliner was.

I think cautious optimism is what's needed here. Afterall, it was Harley Davidson who selected Elton John as the headline act during their 100th Anniversary Concert in 2003! The reaction by the bikers was to leave in droves once they realized who the headliner was.

yeah, what the hell was that all about? Its like getting John Goodman to host the Vibe Awards or getting Stevie Wonder a job in a lighthouse.

I also spoke with someone who has seen it. All I asked was, "Is it a landmark building?" Their answer: "Yes". That has me excited as well and I think we can expect something of a pretty high standard. Yeah, Harley screwed up their anniversary concert, but Harley specializes in design, not concerts.

True. Harley's forte is design. Some of their newer bikes have really inovative designs while still being unmistakably Harley.

Also, I hope the company learned their lesson after the Elton John debacle. That's a screwup that has gone down in the annals of Milwaukee lore.

We should be cautiously optomistic though, because this wouldn't be the first time Harley has a big secret that totally blows up in their face when they reveal it.

Hopefully with all this development of the valley the city will start looking at transportation needs in and out to connect downtown.

Im thrilled to see the harley museum also...heres part of an article on the bussiness journal that appeals to me...

In January 2004, Harley-Davidson said the project would be completed in phases. At the time, the firm said the $60 million first phase of the project will consist of 110,000 square feet for the museum and related facilities including a retail store, meeting rooms, banquet space and a restaurant.
full article (http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2006/02/20/daily13.html?jst=b_ln_hl)

UWM may build housing in Riverwest
More than 400 students could live in complex
By TOM DAYKIN
tdaykin@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Jan. 30, 2006

A complex that would provide apartments for more than 400 students from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee might be developed within the Riverwest neighborhood, a university official said Monday.

The apartments, which would be built overlooking the Milwaukee River, just north of E. North Ave. and about one block east of N. Humboldt Blvd., have emerged as a "strong prospect," said Scott Peak, UWM director of housing.

Preliminary plans call for 126 two- and one-bedroom apartments, Peak said, totaling 477 beds. The apartments would be in three connected buildings of five to six stories.

UWM has about 28,000 students, Peak said, with about 2,700 students living in on-campus housing.
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"Demand is strong, and we really need to have more student housing," Peak said.

UWM is adding student housing to its Kenilworth Building, which runs the length of the block south of E. Kenilworth Place along N. Farwell and N. Prospect avenues. The redeveloped building will include 179 student apartments with 374 beds, about 30 condos, classrooms and retail space when it opens this fall.

University officials hope to see additional student housing developed by fall 2007, Peak said. He said the Riverwest site is among several possible sites UWM officials are considering.

The university partnered with Weas Development Co. on the $68 million Kenilworth project. A similar partnership might be used for the Riverwest apartments, Peak said.

Capstone Development Corp. is working with UWM on the Riverwest proposal. Andy Schroeder, a spokesman for Capstone, a Birmingham, Ala.-based company that has built student housing nationwide, declined to comment.

The Riverwest project would be Capstone Development's first Wisconsin property.

The Riverwest site would cover a 1-acre lot owned by the city Redevelopment Authority at 1136 E. North Ave.

The apartments, which would include underground parking, would be just west of a wooded biking and hiking trail that runs along the river, said Vince Bushell, of the River Revitalization Foundation.

The foundation has been involved in efforts to create the trail, which include land swap negotiations between Milwaukee County and Readco LLC, an investors group led by Frederick Read.

That land swap would allow the county to acquire a parcel from Readco that would close a gap in the trail between E. Meinecke Ave. and E. Wright St., just north of the proposed housing site. Readco, in turn, would acquire from the county a nearby bluff-top parcel.

Readco and county officials need to reach a land swap agreement in order for the student housing proposal to proceed, Bushell said.

Ald. Mike D'Amato, whose district includes the Riverwest site, said the housing proposal could present a "unique opportunity" to help UWM. He said he would consult with neighborhood residents about the potential development.

Todd Davies, a Readco spokesman, declined to comment on the land swap negotiations. Kevin Haley, a Milwaukee County Parks Department official who is involved in the negotiations, could not be reached for comment.

Also, I hope the company learned their lesson after the Elton John debacle. That's a screwup that has gone down in the annals of Milwaukee lore.

Just to clarify something regarding the choice of Elton John ...
He was not the first choice of the organizers. A couple of 'bands' (that were much more representative of Harley-Davidson) were approached and had agreed to perform only to back out with little time left for H-D to find a big enough replacement act. Elton was not the clear choice, but he agreed ... and trust me when I tell you that he did look quite frightened when he stepped onto the stage.

In retrospect, the company did say that their biggest mistake in the whole thing was keeping the thing secret ... and thus disappointing a lot of their enthusiasts.

Anyway, that is all I have to contribute on the topic. It does seem however like there is quite a bit of clearing activity going on at the museum site.

Deleted comment!

http://www.uwm.edu/News/PR/06.02/images/MValley.WestEnd.jpg

Excerpt:

Mayor Tom Barrett said the report confirms the role of new valley development in shaping Milwaukee’s economic future.

“The good news is that there are 7,400 good-paying jobs located right now in the Menomonee Valley,” Barrett said. “The MVBI report confirms that the Valley land is in higher demand and is an attractive place for businesses.”

Other evidence of progress included in the report:

-Housing values closest to the valley have soared in the last five years, demonstrating that proximity to older industrial areas does not necessarily negatively impact residential real estate.

-Childhood lead poisoning rates near the valley continue to decline steadily.

-More than 750 new housing units have been added to the valley and surrounding neighborhoods.

-The average reported salary for valley employees rose, and annual sales for area businesses remained stable.

-The assessed value of commercial property in the valley has risen faster than the average city value.

-One-fourth of valley employees now live in closely surrounding neighborhoods.

-The valley is home to a surprising number of breeding birds and a strong component of native trees and shrubs (boosted by recent ecosystem restoration efforts).

Full Article Found Here: UWM News Releases (http://www.uwm.edu/News/PR/06.02/Menom_Valley_Study.html)

That [underwhelming and disappointing] video and site plan for the Harley Museum are almost two years old....so it's unlikley they reveal anything about the current design.

That [underwhelming and disappointing] video and site plan for the Harley Museum are almost two years old....so it's unlikley they reveal anything about the current design.

sorry, i had no clue...i just saw it before i went to class..posted it...

sorry, i had no clue...i just saw it before i went to class..posted it...

Not a problem, just giving you some background.

What's shown there is pretty basic, conceptual stuff from earlier on in the design process. That means they've had about 2 years to really flesh out the design to improve upon what is shown in that video and site plan...or perhaps come up with something entirely different.


EDIT: But for some reason you decided to delete your post with the information in it...you didn't have to do that just because I said it contained old information!

So for anyone who wants to see the promo video or the early conceptual site plan, they can be found at the Harley-Davidson Museum website (http://www.h-dmuseum.com).

Not a problem, just giving you some background.

What's shown there is pretty basic, conceptual stuff from earlier on in the design process. That means they've had about 2 years to really flesh out the design to improve upon what is shown in that video and site plan...or perhaps come up with something entirely different.

Let's hope Greenstreet et. al. were able to do something about the sea of parking lots on 6th & Canal....

Let's hope Greenstreet et. al. were able to do something about the sea of parking lots on 6th & Canal....

Also, hopefully the overall layout has chagned so the museum/banquet hall isn't spread across three separate buildings linked together by a skywalk system.

So, the movie theater is officially off the table:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=403458

There was an interesting quote in there about how both Zilber and Marcus agreed that that Pabst site is just not a good location for a movie theater.
Apparantly Marcus is still interested in a movie theater, but wants it to be near Water Street, not on the NW edge of downtown.

For the first time, this article seemed to acknowledge that Pabst is simply not downtown, no matter how hard the previous developers wanted it to be.

Anyone catch this week's Shepard? There's an article comparing the modernist architecture of french slums to Milwaukee's new high-end condos. It's worth checking out.

Here's the Link: Living in the Shadows (http://www.shepherd-express.com/2_23_06/review_urbanlandscapes.htm)

For the first time, this article seemed to acknowledge that Pabst is simply not downtown, no matter how hard the previous developers wanted it to be.

Good point. Refreshing to see the media reflect that.

Possible New Condos/Retail for Downer Ave.

THURSDAY, Feb. 23, 2006, 2:25 p.m.
By Tom Daykin
Downer Ave. buildings change hands

Local condominium developer Boris Gokhman has agreed to buy several buildings in the Downer Ave. business district on Milwaukee's east side, with plans of finding new uses for some of the buildings' vacant space.

Gokhman, who operates New Land Enterprises LLP, said today that he has agreed to buy the buildings from Daniel Katz, John Crichton and Thomas Hauck. Gokhman hopes to complete the purchase within six months.

The buildings, which run on both sides of Downer Ave. between E. Webster Place and E. Park Place, house several neighborhood businesses, including Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop; Einstein Bagels; Chancery Pub and Restaurant; Downer Theatre; Gil's Cafe and Grill; Boutique Bebe; and Breadsmith.

Anyone catch this week's Shepard? There's an article comparing the modernist architecture of french slums to Milwaukee's new high-end condos. It's worth checking out.

Here's the Link: Living in the Shadows (http://www.shepherd-express.com/2_23_06/review_urbanlandscapes.htm)
The author's point of the article is there are possible negative consequences because there is a high-rise grouping of wealthy people on Milwaukee's east side. Now there's a stretch. The article was idiotic, and had no real world relevancy.

I just scanned the Shepard piece, and didn't find much merit in it, either. The subhead reads: "Is bigger always better?" The answer to that question is obvious, but the writer doesn't make an effective case. The article bears what to me is a common Shepard style: rhetorical kick-boxing in place of a clear thesis or well-constructed argument -- but at least worth the price of the paper.

From 5th & Canal:

http://www.h-dmuseum.com/images/photogallery/img_mainimage_1.jpg

From the Menomonee Canal:

http://www.h-dmuseum.com/images/photogallery/img_mainimage_2.jpg

Link to site plan (PDF):

http://www.h-dmuseum.com/pdfs/HDM_dwgs_rev022206.pdf

Here's the press release:

HARLEY-DAVIDSON UNVEILS DESIGN FOR MUSEUM DEVELOPMENT

MILWAUKEE -- (February 24, 2006) Harley-Davidson today unveiled designs for the Harley-Davidson Museum development on 20 acres at the corner of Sixth and Canal Streets near downtown Milwaukee. “The design plan for the Harley-Davidson Museum and its site incorporates striking urban design elements and engages the surrounding water and green spaces,” said Museum Director Stacey Watson. “It also unites the city center with the Menomonee Valley and reflects the industrial heritage of the area and of Harley-Davidson.”

"The Harley-Davidson Museum will add yet another world-class attraction to Milwaukee and showcase our city's proud history with an industry icon known worldwide," said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. "I am particularly proud of Harley-Davidson's use of green design elements to redevelop this site into a landmark that will further cement Milwaukee as a destination for visitors and Harley-Davidson enthusiasts from our region and beyond."

The Harley-Davidson Museum design has been in development for more than a year and included extensive input from Milwaukee city officials. “This has been an extremely collaborative process between Harley-Davidson and the City of Milwaukee ,” said Robert Greenstreet, City Architect and Planner for the Milwaukee Department of City Development and Dean of the School of Architecture & Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “The result is an excellent building and site that the City and the Company can be proud of.”

“We appreciate the support of Mayor Barrett, the Milwaukee Common Council, the Milwaukee Department of City Development and everyone who had a hand in this process,” said Watson. “For 103 years our company has felt at home in Milwaukee, and the Museum development process has been no exception.”

With an anticipated opening date of 2008, the 130,000 sq. ft. Museum development will feature exhibit space as well as a restaurant, café, retail shop, meeting space, special event facilities and the Harley-Davidson corporate archives.

Harley-Davidson also announced the Museum development partners. The lead design architect is Pentagram, New York, whose expertise includes architecture, graphic design and exhibit design. Other key members of the development team include Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Milwaukee, local architect of record; Oslund and Associates, Minneapolis, landscape architecture; M.A. Mortenson Company, Milwaukee, construction management; and SIGMA, Milwaukee, environmental consultant.

Harley-Davidson plans to break ground for the Museum later in the first half of 2006. When completed, the Museum is expected to attract an estimated 350,000 visitors each year from around the world.

Nice, I love it! I think all the bikers will too!

pretty cool! i dig it...

i like it. It is a lot better than I imagined . It is a pretty world class design in my opinion.

I'd have to agree with both of your guy's opinions on the Shepard article, I found the comparison interesting though.

On the Harley design, I like it, but I'd like to see more details (interior renderings). The site plan looks impressive, the riverwalk work alone looks like a large project. One question though: what's the difference between a parking-lot, and a car-garden?

One question though: what's the difference between a parking-lot, and a car-garden? judging by the site map, a car garden is one of those with grass parking spaces instead of pavement (the aisles are paved though)... i've seen them before but i can't say i understand it..i guess it helps with greenspace and everything, but i foresee that being a real mess after summer rains..

That looks awesome! I love how it has an industrial look about it. It really reenforces the history and architecture of the valley while at the same time is itself unique and forward looking

Wow, I was supprised to see an article about the harley museum in the local newspaper. I didn't realize it was such a big thing.

Are Wisconsinites the only Americans that say "Bayg," or do Minnesota-ans join us? I know Canada says it like that. When I'm in Texas, even though I don't really have an accent, when I hit those AG words I always get a "you're from wisconsin" or "you're from minnesota," aren't you?

^^ i have no idea what you mean. i have a typical "accent." not sure how to describe. like the northern accent is the standard. like you see national news reporters from all over the country always with the same northern accent. i have yet to find one with a southern one. anyway i'm getting off track. i didnt realize the word 'bag' could be pronounced any other way than what i've heard.

Yeah, we say "Bayg," with an ay sound like in SAY. Most others say Bag with an "a" sound like in "Anne" and without the "AY" sound.

Most others say Bag with an "a" sound like in "Anne"

hmm.. thats hard to say. it doesnt flow at all

I have a recurring argument with my roommate over the pronunciation of 'bag' and other similar words. I grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs, and say bAYg. He grew up near Shaumburg, and says it the other way.

I've even tried to change the way I talk a little bit, because bAYg sounds kid of silly. My girlfriend looks at me funny when I do that though. :)

This past summer i was riding my bike north along the riverwalk, and eventually got to the Time Warner building. I took a rest for a few minutes and some punk rent-a-cop said I had to leave. Although the riverwalk section along the Time Warner building is not technically part of the riverwalk, isnt riverfront property open to the public to pass through? For example, the Rock Bottom cafe owns its section of the riverwalk, but still must allow people to walk through.

maybe since you were just chillin there he considered it loitering? maybe he was just bored or wanted to feel powerful

This past summer i was riding my bike north along the riverwalk, and eventually got to the Time Warner building. I took a rest for a few minutes and some punk rent-a-cop said I had to leave. Although the riverwalk section along the Time Warner building is not technically part of the riverwalk, isnt riverfront property open to the public to pass through? For example, the Rock Bottom cafe owns its section of the riverwalk, but still must allow people to walk through.

The stretch in front of the Time Warner building is indeed part of the RiverWalk system and is supposed to be accessible to the public (aside from segments closed due to nearby construction projects)...it's just not physically connected to the rest of it yet. The same is true for other isolated stretches along the river.

The Harley museum design looks good. I like the open-air feeling of it and the fact that cyclists can just ride their bikes right into the plaza.

I have a recurring argument with my roommate over the pronunciation of 'bag' and other similar words. I grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs, and say bAYg. He grew up near Shaumburg, and says it the other way.

I've even tried to change the way I talk a little bit, because bAYg sounds kid of silly. My girlfriend looks at me funny when I do that though. :)

Same thing with "egg." A lot of people in SE Wisco say "Ayyyg." It drives me nuts, sorta like when I hear people call soda "pop." Makes me cringe.

I'm interested in hearing Markitect's thoughts on the Harley museum design....

Another rust belt relic in Walkers Point is slated for residential conversion:

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2006/02/27/story2.html

This is the huge, wedge shaped building just north of the Teweles Seed tower on 3rd & Pittsburgh. I'm a little surprised at the plans, I had figured the building's slender wedge shape would limit its potential for redevelopment, especially into residential units.

Let's hope the six new stories on top of the building don't look as "tacked on" as what was done to the Teweles building.

I'm interested in hearing Markitect's thoughts on the Harley museum design....

It's hard to say right now without having a look at what how the entire development is being designed. Right now we only see renderings for the Museum building, but aside from a couple tiny partial glimpses, we do not get a sense of what the Annex/Archives and Restaurant/Retail buildings will look like.

The decision to go with an industrial aesthetic is obviously fitting, and from what is shown, is pretty interesting...though it seems a bit too "boxy." A few curving forms could be nice (like a graceful curved roof), and give it a bit of a streamlined appearance, which would tie into the notion of the curves and aerodynamics involved in designing the very motorcycles that will be on display there. There are some green architecture elements incorporated into the building, which is great, and it would be nice to see/hear more detailed specifics about them.

The intersection at 6th and Canal is a gateway--four very important corners, the place where access to Downtown, the Menomonee Valley, and the South Side all come together. A high-visibility intersection, a one-hundred percent corner...and it is left either vacant (though reserved for future development) or dedicated to surface parking lots. The museum, the focal point of the entire development, is pushed back a block away from that spot.

Naturally, the need for parking is a big deal for such a tourist draw. They get points for creating a "car garden" (a landscaped parking lot with some porous paving to allow for run-stormwater off drainage) as a better alternative for a giant field of asphalt...but as dressed up as it may be, it's still just a surface lot. Two of them being located directly on prime corner development sites. The lots ought to be reconfigured so as not to occupy the corners, but be tucked away to the interior of the site (wrap the street edges with actual buildings) or in a nicely designed mixed-use parking structure. Also, as long as they're playing up the car garden idea, it ought to be incorporated into the on-street parking areas as well (sacrifice an angled parking spot or two every so often for a tree planter or flower bed, and maybe use some of that porous paving on those parking spaces).

The site is essentially a peninsula, surrounded by the river and canal on three sides...so a RiverWalk is in order. There are some landscaped plazas on the backside of the Museum (with a rigid, orderly, more hardscaped arrangement) and some other open greenspaces (with a looser, softer arrangement) on either side of the site. However, it seems to lack some of the characteristics that make the RiverWalk sections in other parts of the city so great--namely the spaces where you can get down near the water and really interact with it...places where you can get close to the water, or even dock a small boat (or a possible water taxi stop), walkways that jut out over the water, textured walkways or sections built of different materials, etc. The Harley RiverWalk does not appear to have any of that (if it does, they aren't depicted in any of the drawings so far, or perhaps they are details that were omitted for to make the drawings "cleaner"), it's all just paved walkway along the riverbank.

Canal Street is planned to be the main east-west street through a revitalized Valley--the spine off of which new development will occur. Unfortunately it just dead-ends at the Menomonee Canal. When you have such an important and lengthy view corridor like that, its end ought to be punctuated by something, some kind of feature to terminate the view. But the Harley plan has nothing. There is a tower on the museum building--the one with the H-D logo...that is precisely the kind of thing that could be used as a good terminus, lined up right on the center of the street. It's something architectural, it's something big, it's something tall, it's something that can be seen from far away down the street, it's something that symbolizes the civic importance and significance of the museum. But in the Harley plan, that tower is pushed off to the side where is doesn't have as much of a visual impact.

Then there are the skywalks, which makes the whole development into more of an isolated maze than a cohesive urban development with lots of pedestrian activity, street cafes, and retail uses (like they seem to be touting). Skywalks just seem so counter-productive toward those goals, not to mention tacked-on to herd people from the museum directly into the Harley gift shop.

At the first meeting of the Regional Economic Development Council on December 13, representatives from each of the seven participating counties approved the "Milwaukee 7" brand for their regional cooperative efforts and initiatives.

"Milwaukee 7 is aimed at building local support for thinking and acting as one region, while recognizing the seven diverse county partners," explained Dean Amhaus, president of the Spirit of Milwaukee.

The group has raised $3,353,500 in campaign contributions — 64% of the 5-year campaign budget of $5.25 million.

Full story here: Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (http://www.mmac.org/display/router.asp?docid=729)

MORE INFO:
Economic Trends Report, December, 2005 (http://www.mmac.org/display/router.asp?docid=484)
Business Outlook Survey, First Quarter, 2006 (http://www.mmac.org/display/router.asp?DocID=279)

Marktect: thanks for the critique. Overall I'm glad they've treated the riverfront the way they have with natural plantings and a riverwalk. I would like to see more on the actual corner of 6th & Canal, but maybe that will come in the fabled "Phase II," which Harley says will happen in a few years. We shall see.

As for the terminus of Canal Street. I thought it was interesting how Harley's plans have Canal just ... ending, with no treatment at all. I took this to mean that they are leaving open the possibility of the City building a bridge connecting Canal Street to Seeboth Street, through what is now MMSD's property. There are so many good reasons to do this, and the City has raised it as a possibility. Hopefully the City can make this happen eventually. A bridge across the Menomonee Canal would strenghten Walkers Point's development potential and could make more feasibile redevelopment of the 40 acre morton salt site south of the Meno. Canal, across third street from the Teweles Seed tower.

This is such a fascinating part of the city with the waterways, old industrial warehouses, and plenty of open land ... all right on the cusp of a total transformation. I like the Harley design overall. But it's not the standout landmark building that it would/should be.

Overall I'm glad they've treated the riverfront the way they have with natural plantings and a riverwalk.

Yeah, the two different treatments for the RiverWalk are good contrast. I'd just like to see some opportunities built into the design that allow for some interaction with the water. Passive and active areas, maybe similar to what's being done along the Menomonee River at the western end of the Valley. As things appear for the Harley plan, it looks like all anybody can do is walk along the river and look down at the water. But then, the site plan posted is probably a much simplified version of what it might actually look like.

I would like to see more on the actual corner of 6th & Canal, but maybe that will come in the fabled "Phase II," which Harley says will happen in a few years. We shall see.

Yeah, the blank parcels on the east side of 6th Street are supposed to be reserved for Phase 3, buildings for a new Harley office building, and perhaps some more retail and maybe a hotel...long-term plans, no timetable set on those.

That still leaves the sites west of 6th Street as car gardens. I think it would be better to relocate or reconfigure those to another part of the site to leave all four conrers open for future development. Otherwise they'd have to build the parking lots, landscape them, make them look all nice, and then plow them over later if somebody ever decides to develop the west side of 6th.

As for the terminus of Canal Street. I thought it was interesting how Harley's plans have Canal just ... ending, with no treatment at all. I took this to mean that they are leaving open the possibility of the City building a bridge connecting Canal Street to Seeboth Street, through what is now MMSD's property. There are so many good reasons to do this, and the City has raised it as a possibility. Hopefully the City can make this happen eventually. A bridge across the Menomonee Canal would strenghten Walkers Point's development potential and could make more feasibile redevelopment of the 40 acre morton salt site south of the Meno. Canal, across third street from the Teweles Seed tower.

A Canal Street extension bridging the canal into Walker's Point was part of the City's redevelopment plan for the Valley, which pre-dates Harley's interest at that site. I seem to recall there was some issue with the early Harley plans and them wanting to be able to close off Canal Street for events, and them not wanting a future bridge, but I don't know what ever became of that...if it was resolved to allow a bridge there in the future or if the City caved in to Harley and scrapped it all together.

A bridge alignment slightly further southeast, to hook up with Pittsburgh Street, would create a major linkage between the Third Ward, Walker's Point, 6th/Canal, and the western Valley.

pardon my language...but what the hell is this shit?

Whitney Goulds take on Bayshore (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=404455)

Where is the cool looking Bayshore that we all are excited about? The Bayshore website shows a beautiful mall Bayshore (http://shopbayshore.com/) ....the new version looks horrible in comparison.

oh, by the way--I dig the new Harley Museum. I really like the industrial/black-silver look--which are great colors for a Harley building and one in the Menomonee Valley. I am not in love with all the parking, but you need it for an attraction of this calibur. Like Miller Park with its huge lots used for all the tailgating, this will be filled with motorcyclists.....that add to the ambiance. In any case, its a great additon to Milwaukee and will draw alot of tourists.

My brother works at Northwestern Mutual so I asked him to take some pictures out the window. Here are the two most interesting of the pictures he sent me.

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/8155/uctconstruction5uh.jpg

http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/5805/downtown6tp.jpg

Friends,

Link to image> http://www.nltk-architects.com/clybourn.htm

I've attached an image of a project NLTK-Architects is currently working on. It's still fairly conceptual so the rendering is a little loose. I thought maybe with the keen interest on this board regarding development in the city you might like to see it. The site is a brownfield that was once occupied by a gas station at the corner of 27th and Clybourn. We'll be cleaning the contaminated site and returning it to the city tax rolls. The building will be divided into three 2-story office condo units at about 1800 sq ft each. It will be a unique opportunity for small to medium sized business owners to purchase their space for the same price they would lease in other locations. We feel the area is ripe for rebirth and hope our project has a positive impact on the neighborhood and City. The new freeway exit is very close and Clybourn has seen major street improvement. The development happening at 27th and Wisconsin will just be a few blocks away. Not to mention the redevelopment of the valley and a two other great projects we're currently fleshing out on 27th st(they're still a little immature but when they're ready for the public I'll post them). The main elevation faces 27th st and attempts a pedestrian friendly scale. Enjoy! I'll post more images as the project progresses!

Brian

that first one is pretty cool!^ I really think UC will be one of the best in Milwaukee. The top of that building is going to make it or break it for me.

pardon my language...but what the hell is this shit?

Whitney Goulds take on Bayshore (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=404455)

Where is the cool looking Bayshore that we all are excited about? The Bayshore website shows a beautiful mall Bayshore (http://shopbayshore.com/) ....the new version looks horrible in comparison.

Yeah, that looks like a high school in the city

Friends,

Link to image> http://www.nltk-architects.com/clybourn.htm

I've attached an image of a project NLTK-Architects is currently working on. It's still fairly conceptual so the rendering is a little loose. I thought maybe with the keen interest on this board regarding development in the city you might like to see it. The site is a brownfield that was once occupied by a gas station at the corner of 27th and Clybourn. We'll be cleaning the contaminated site and returning it to the city tax rolls. The building will be divided into three 2-story office condo units at about 1800 sq ft each. It will be a unique opportunity for small to medium sized business owners to purchase their space for the same price they would lease in other locations. We feel the area is ripe for rebirth and hope our project has a positive impact on the neighborhood and City. The new freeway exit is very close and Clybourn has seen major street improvement. The development happening at 27th and Wisconsin will just be a few blocks away. Not to mention the redevelopment of the valley and a two other great projects we're currently fleshing out on 27th st(they're still a little immature but when they're ready for the public I'll post them). The main elevation faces 27th st and attempts a pedestrian friendly scale. Enjoy! I'll post more images as the project progresses!

Brian


While I am not an architectural expert, I do like that building! I think we are all appreciate your posts and giving us a sneak preview of what you are working on. I look forward to seeing your future developments...especially that one in the Valley.

BTW--I like that slate grey color...like this one in the Beerline.

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/5920/08241417mh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Yeah, that looks like a high school in the city

lol, yeah....a shame. I had such high expectations for this mall. Hopefully its not as bad as it looks.

pardon my language...but what the hell is this shit?

Whitney Goulds take on Bayshore (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=404455)

Where is the cool looking Bayshore that we all are excited about? The Bayshore website shows a beautiful mall Bayshore (http://shopbayshore.com/) ....the new version looks horrible in comparison.


I love to shop more than any other straight guy I know and when i heard that bayshore was getting a huge makeover, i was syked. i suppose i still am, but this is pretty disappointing. Like what someone else said, it does look like a high school. definitely not what i had in mind when i learned about its big redevelopment. i saw the pictures of the plans here http://bayshoremilwaukee.com/ and, although not completely breathtaking, its nicer than the stuff in that article. the nicer looking stuff click About Bayshore > Models... the renderings arent that spectacular

MilwaukeeMark, tell your brother he did a good job and that when UCT is done we want a couple more!

looks like we are not the only ones waiting for UCT to finish........

MONDAY, Feb. 27, 2006, 4:52 p.m.
By Tom Haudricourt
Attanasio expects more

During his first visit of the spring to the Milwaukee Brewers' training camp, owner Mark Attanasio made it clear he expects more from the team in 2006 after an 81-81 finish last season.

"I think you come in with a new sense of purpose," said Attanasio. "I sensed a new sense of purpose in the clubhouse. The guys seemed a little more serious than they were last year. I think they know the bar has been raised."

Attanasio also revealed he has found a new home in Milwaukee to serve as his residence when he travels from Los Angeles. He bought an entire floor of the new University Club Tower on the downtown lakefront and expects to move in next February.

"The mayor is very happy I'm going to be paying property tax," Attanasio said with a laugh.

Michael Redd, now Attanasio, this is a high stakes -kind of- tower.

looks like we are not the only ones waiting for UCT to finish........

MONDAY, Feb. 27, 2006, 4:52 p.m.
By Tom Haudricourt
Attanasio expects more

During his first visit of the spring to the Milwaukee Brewers' training camp, owner Mark Attanasio made it clear he expects more from the team in 2006 after an 81-81 finish last season.

"I think you come in with a new sense of purpose," said Attanasio. "I sensed a new sense of purpose in the clubhouse. The guys seemed a little more serious than they were last year. I think they know the bar has been raised."

Attanasio also revealed he has found a new home in Milwaukee to serve as his residence when he travels from Los Angeles. He bought an entire floor of the new University Club Tower on the downtown lakefront and expects to move in next February.

"The mayor is very happy I'm going to be paying property tax," Attanasio said with a laugh.


i bet those will be a whole lot of property taxes, probably atleast 15-20k per year, thats what i feel is sometimes bad about condos in the sky, many times they are just crash pads for the ultra wealthy instead of someone's main residence, but im atleast glad that he will be supporting the building......
i suppose alot of the sports figures in milwaukee will be living there or crashing there,
sosa and many cubs would crash at new york tower or park place near wrigley,
thats whats too bad about miller park,
why cant they make it more more of a neigborhood there,
that parking lot is horrible, thats part of why i havent gone there yet, its very congested and bottlenecky to get in there, there is no other option of getting in there, and that is disgusting, there should be atleast a monorail or something.......
damn milwaukee needs lightrail......
imagine how much money that would make if they built a neighborhood right around miller park, and how attendance would shoot through the roof,

oops double post!

thats whats too bad about miller park,
why cant they make it more more of a neigborhood there,
that parking lot is horrible, thats part of why i havent gone there yet, its very congested and bottlenecky to get in there, there is no other option of getting in there, and that is disgusting, there should be atleast a monorail or something.......
damn milwaukee needs lightrail......
imagine how much money that would make if they built a neighborhood right around miller park, and how attendance would shoot through the roof,
You won't go to a Brewers game because Miller Park has a parking lot??? The Brewers had 2.2 million in attendence last year with a .500 record. So if you want a neighborhood right next to Miller Park, I suspect you'll be one of the first people to move in right next door to Miller Park. Let's see now if you would enjoy the drunks pissing on your front yard, the litterbugs throwing trash in your yard, yelling, swearing, horns honking until way past your bedtime, right in front of your house. The traffic is backed up for hours in front of your new house in this new neighborhood because it being clogged by school buses, transit buses, tour and coach buses. But hey, you don't mind, because there's no parking lot at Miller Park. Get Real Mohammed

You won't go to a Brewers game because Miller Park has a parking lot??? The Brewers had 2.2 million in attendence last year with a .500 record. So if you want a neighborhood right next to Miller Park, I suspect you'll be one of the first people to move in right next door to Miller Park. Let's see now if you would enjoy the drunks pissing on your front yard, the litterbugs throwing trash in your yard, yelling, swearing, horns honking until way past your bedtime, right in front of your house. The traffic is backed up for hours in front of your new house in this new neighborhood because it being clogged by school buses, transit buses, tour and coach buses. But hey, you don't mind, because there's no parking lot at Miller Park. Get Real Mohammed

sounds great, sounds like a city......
and hence the need for public transit for real city life,
i will go to miller park, but i havent been rarring to go,
who cares if drunks piss on your front lawn?
what kind of place are you comparing it to? because it doesnt sound like anything i know, the place is jumping around wrigley but its not the ninth circle of hell and as you have described.

i guess for you its total hell on earth or giant parking lot surrounding miller park. if milwaukee could develop light rail there would be less need for on site parking, wrigley manages quite well without a giant parking lot around it, because the el is there, and it has a walkable neigborhood around it.
parking is there at a premium because cars are a luxury in that neigborhood.
and the land has better uses than car holders. the parking lots are disapearing there BECAUSE people want to live there despite the HORRIFIC living conditions that you ABHOR, if its so horrible to live in this ninth circle of hell, then why are prices so high?

wow didnt know that people were so defensive about their parking lots
:sleepy:

Miller Park and Brewers fans NEED parking lots. Many of the forumers on here were for a downtown stadium--not me. Tailgaiting is apart of Milwaukee culture and it wouldnt have been the same downtown. Those far eastern parking lots are hoppin' on a beautiful sunny day.

Miller Park and Brewers fans NEED parking lots. Many of the forumers on here were for a downtown stadium--not me. Tailgaiting is apart of Milwaukee culture and it wouldnt have been the same downtown. Those far eastern parking lots are hoppin' on a beautiful sunny day.

very true. i went to about half a dozen games last season and every single lane of parked cars you walked through you would see people with grills drinking beer or people playing catch car after car.

very true. i went to about half a dozen games last season and every single lane of parked cars you walked through you would see people with grills drinking beer or people playing catch car after car.

yup, its a very fun expereince. Music, young guys and beautiful women, food, beer, sports, and inexpensive tickets....its all good! I think thats the reason why so many college students and visitors come to Miller Park, rather than the Bradley Center.

Miller Park and Brewers fans NEED parking lots. Many of the forumers on here were for a downtown stadium--not me. Tailgaiting is apart of Milwaukee culture and it wouldnt have been the same downtown. Those far eastern parking lots are hoppin' on a beautiful sunny day.

I guess i dont get it, ive never done that and dont want to,
doesnt sound like fun.....
In LA, people were just in and out of the parking lot, without tailgating....
i guess i dont get tailgating, i thought it was more of a football thing.
is it common at all for baseball? i just dont think parking lots are cool places, they are dead zones to me.

personally i think Miller Park would do much better if it was in a real neighborhood, thats what ballparks were back in the day and i see this parking lot surrounding a ballpark as a travesty

the stadium wouldve done well near downtown.

I guess i dont get it, ive never done that and dont want to,
doesnt sound like fun.....
In LA, people were just in and out of the parking lot, without tailgating....
i guess i dont get tailgating, i thought it was more of a football thing.
is it common at all for baseball? i just dont think parking lots are cool places, they are dead zones to me.

personally i think Miller Park would do much better if it was in a real neighborhood, thats what ballparks were back in the day and i see this parking lot surrounding a ballpark as a travesty

the stadium wouldve done well near downtown.

see, you have to try it sometime...maybe we should have a Milwaukee forum Brewers game meet. Yes, parking lots by themselves are boring...but when you have thousands and thousands of people all hanging around, grilling, drinking, having a good time....its fun.

And its in a real part of Milwaukee---sure, it doesnt have dense housing right next door...but there are trains rolling by, the Miller plant/downtown skyline/chimneys in view, trees, the river, the future Hank Aaron St. Trail, and those new parks in the valley coming.

:cheers: as long as its against the cubs

Not everybody who comes to Miller Park tailgates...so ALL of those huge parking lots aren't needed, because they are complete dead zones when they're not in use, which is a majority of the year.

Soultion: Compromise. Keep some large lots designated for tailgating (say, all of the inner lots between the stadium and freeways), and develop the remainder (the outer lots on the far side of the freeways) with a mix of uses, including parking structures. This provides space for tailgaters, and contributes more to the tax base for the city, not to mention new revenue for the Brewers by selling or leasing some of the land to developers or tenants.

Another possible arrangement, and even better than the one above, is to take the main parking lot aisles that radiate outward from the stadium and turn them into a patterns of streets and large blocks. Line them up with some buildings, and use the interior sections of the blocks as surface lots.

Then, to take it a bit further, follow Harley's lead, and convert the remaining surface lots/tailgating areas into "car gardens"...which allows people a place to park their car, a place to tailgate, a place to sit in the shade under a tree while stuffing themselves with brats...

Everybody wins.

And in fact, Attanasio has been considering developing at least some of the existing surface lots, as means of generating revenue for the team.

Quite interesting. Wisocnsin is really trying to boost it's film industry:

http://badgerherald.com/news/2006/02/28/bill_looks_to_encour.php