The Milwaukee County Board, after sending the matter back to committee last month, recently approved plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) from developers who want to purchase and develop the 1.9-acre, county-owned parking lot at the southwest corner of West State Street and North Sixth Street in downtown Milwaukee. The property is located just west of the Milwaukee Theatre, southwest of the Bradley Center and northwest of the Midwest Airlines Center. The county’s asking price for the property is $3.1 million. According to the draft of the RFP, buildings on the property must be at least four stories tall.
The developer for the property will be required to meet the county’s disadvantaged business enterprise participation goal of 25 percent of the project’s construction budget and 17 percent for the project’s professional services non-construction budget. The property could be affected by the city’s plans to redevelop MacArthur Square, which are still in the conceptual stage. The preliminary plans for redeveloping MacArthur Square include a ramp in front of the 6th Street side of the county parking lot property that would connect southbound traffic to a bridge that would elevate West Kilbourn Avenue up to MacArthur Square. The city’s plan also envisions development on the county parking lot site.
