The proposal for a heavily debated live-music venue is heading to the Milwaukee Common Council following approval from the city’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee Monday.
If approved by the council later this year, construction could begin in March, with a tentative opening in fall 2025, Joel Plant, CEO of Madison-based promoter and venues operator Frank Productions, told the committee Monday.
Concert industry giant Live Nation owns a controlling stake in Frank Productions.
The five-member committee voted 4-1 (with Alderman Jonathan Brostoff opposed) to approve modified plans for the proposed venue, planned for a portion of the Bradley Center lot just south of Fiserv Forum, at 1051 N. Phillips Ave.
The venue — which would be operated by Frank Production’s FPC Live division on land owned by the Milwaukee Bucks — received full city approvals last year, despite significant pushback from local music venue operators.
Initially planned to feature two stages, the city approval process had to begin anew after FPC Live in August eliminated plans for an 800-person-capacity venue at the site due to rising construction costs.
Now consisting of one stage and a ballroom-style venue accommodating up to 4,500 people, the venue will cost north of $60 million, Plant said Monday, a higher price tag than when the project was first proposed in December 2021, initially at a Third Ward site adjacent to Maier Festival Park. Prior to Monday’s zoning committee meeting, the modified venue was unanimously approved by the Milwaukee Plan Commission last month.
Alderman Bob Bauman, whose district includes the Deer District, said the scaled-back plans were actually an improvement. Not only would the elimination of the smaller room mean less direct competition with other venues in town, but he supported the downsizing opening up about 12,500 square feet for development on the lot. Milwaukee Bucks president Peter Feigin Monday reaffirmed that the Bucks anticipate a hotel tenant moving into that spot.
That hotel would have 150 to 175 rooms, Andy Inman, chief development officer at Madison-based NCG Hospitality, has previously said. NCG Hospitality in May opened The Trade hotel at 420 W. Juneau Ave., just north of Fiserv Forum.
Chris Ahmuty, president of the Turner Ballroom Preservation Trust, and Emilio De Torre, executive director of Milwaukee Turners, called on the committee to defer a decision Monday, with De Torre requesting to have a traffic and safety plan analyzed by a third-party that Turners would pay for. Among the businesses inside the historic Turner building, across from the proposed site of FPC Live’s venue, is Turner Hall Ballroom, a live music, comedy and events venue operated by the Pabst Theater Group.
City Planning Manager Sam Leichtling told the committee that no building permits would be approved until the Department of Public Works had reviewed an updated traffic analysis, and that the Milwaukee Police Department had no concerns about FPC Live’s latest safety plan for the site.
The zoning committee’s approval wasn’t the only news Monday related to potential Deer District development. The Bucks and local developer J. Jeffers and Company announced plans for a five-story, mixed-use building east of the Trade Hotel, which include 210 apartment units, with a groundbreaking tentatively planned for mid-2025.
Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on X at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS
