development

It has been just over five years since Johnson Controls merged with Tyco International and moved its headquarters from Milwaukee to Cork, Ireland.

The coronavirus pandemic has crippled many parts of Milwaukee’s economy. Businesses have had to rely on government funding and are adapting their services to safely to stay open.

But one industry that has been relatively unaffected from the pandemic has been commercial development.

Tom Daykin has been reporting on commercial development for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel since 1995 and he says many of the projects that opened in 2020 were able to survive because they were already so far along.

Cities like Milwaukee have been forced to change much of how space is used over the past year. Office cubicles sit empty, restaurants have had to close their doors and more people are working from home than ever.

These changes have forced people and companies to make the best of the situation, and some of these changes might be here to stay when the pandemic ends.

Over the last decade, Oak Creek has been evolving and city leaders believe a new housing development will continue that trend.

Oak Creek’s evolution began when a former major manufacturing plant site was reimagined as a 21st century town square, with an adjacent restored wetland.

There have been a lot of environmental stories coming out of the coronavirus pandemic — but one environmental win that has little to do with the pandemic is flying under the radar right here in Milwaukee.

On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Common Council will vote on whether or not to approve a revision to the plans of Ascent, a planned high-rise apartment building in downtown. If approved, Ascent will become the tallest wooden structure in the world after Mjøstårnet, an 18-story wooden skyscraper that went up in Norway last year.

The site of the proposed Couture building has been plagued by problems for more than half a century. It was once the site of the historic Lake Front Depot, which heralded guests on Chicago-Northwestern rail lines for more than 80 years.

From the opening of the Fiserv Forum to the Milwaukee Streetcar, 2018 was a year of major changes for downtown Milwaukee. But 2019 may prove to be even more transformative for the central city.

Several hundred people packed into a room at Bayside Middle School Thursday night to voice their opinions about a proposed high rise apartment tower in the village. While some who attended were excited about the prospect of a 30-story tower, many were opposed.

The Community Development Authority held the public hearing. 

The tower would house 250 luxury apartment units, near the busy intersection of Brown Deer and Port Washington Roads – off of I-43.

Employees at Oak Creek-based Master Lock will spend the next few weeks getting used to a new workspace.  Starting Monday, the company begins moving into its new corporate headquarters, just a couple miles from its current offices. 

It was not long ago that the national narrative surrounding Detroit was overwhelmingly - almost universally - negative.  The city was bankrupt, the school system had failed, the downtown core was practically emptied.

But things have begun to improve, led by creative entrepreneurs and others who see Detroit as something of a blank slate.  One of the key people involved in that effort is James Feagin, through his work as a consultant with the nonprofit Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.

National Avenue in Milwaukee is becoming a hot spot for small businesses. That area of town has struggled with crime and poverty; but now, new businesses and housing development seem to be flocking to the avenue from Second Street west to Miller Park Way.

When Gloria DeAngelo dreamed about opening a bakery and cake shop, she never imagined it would be here on 25th and National in a building that would horrify most people.

“This was an empty, ugly building when I saw it the first time. I was like oh my God,” DeAngelo says.

Leaders of Oak Creek say the Milwaukee suburb is on the verge of a new beginning. The community is developing a main street and city center on land that once housed a massive Delphi plant. 

When the plant closed its doors in 2008, Oak Creek was left with 85 available acres. Leaders eventually came to view it as a massive opportunity, according to Carolyn Esswein. She’s an urban planning professor at UW-Milwaukee, and served as the city's consultant.

The grocery retailer Meijer is building a store on Burleigh in Wauwatosa. The community will soon be home to about a half-dozen major grocers.

Milwaukee continues to be ranked by various studies as one of the most, if not the most segregated city in the United States.

The new 32-story office tower Northwestern Mutual plans to build in downtown Milwaukee, will be just one change to the landscape.

In the last several years, our southern neighbors in the city of Kenosha have seen a healthy amount of commercial and industrial real estate development.

Milwaukee’s skyline could have a distinct new feature in a few years: a 44-story tower. County Executive Chris Abele outlined the plans Wednesday. The building would be located across the street from Discovery World and the northern entrance to Summerfest. As WUWM’s Ann-Elise Henzl reports, the development would include hotel rooms and housing to meet what planners call a growing demand.

The economic downturn has hit the builders of homes and condominiums hard. Unemployment in the construction trades tops 25 percent. Still, one sector is hot. Large apartment complexes are taking shape, including on the metro Milwaukee landscape.