Walker’s Point will be getting another dog daycare. It’s a neighborhood where the daycare owner says there is a “serious need” among residents for places to take their four-legged friends during the day.
Doggy Office is leasing 8,500 square feet at 125 E. Greenfield Ave., located just across the street from the Freshwater Plaza Apartments, where it plans to open its third daycare location, said co-owner Lisa Hooper. Doggy Office currently operates daycares in Butler and Brown Deer.
Hooper said there will be about 60 kennels at this location, and she expects it to take in between 80 and 100 dogs. Work has already begun to prepare the building for its new tenants, including replacing the floors and painting. The kennels will be located on the first floor of the two-story building, while the upstairs will be used for offices and storage.
The daycare is also leasing the parking lot behind the building, which will be partly used as an outdoor dog run. Hooper said the plan is to have the new dog daycare up and running in about two months.
A resident of the Historic Third Ward, Hooper said both neighborhoods are filled with dog owners yet don’t have much to offer in the way of dog daycares.
Another dog daycare, Happy Paws Grooming and Daycare LLC, recently went before the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals with plans to open a location at 1132 S. Barclay St. The site of a longtime recycling center, the proposed daycare is about two blocks north of where Doggy Office will open its newest location.
According to Happy Paws’ application with the city, there is currently one dog daycare and boarding facility in the area, but it is already at capacity.
“I think there’s just a serious need for it down here,” said Hooper, adding that nearly all the residents in the condo building where she lives own a dog.
Hooper said she has been considering opening a dog daycare in the area for about six years. In fact, she first looked at the building that she’s leasing now about five years ago, but it was owned by someone else at the time.
Both dog daycares are opening near the Freshwater Plaza development. Beyond the four-story, 76-unit apartment and retail building, the development also includes a Cermak Fresh Market, a Sherwin Williams paint store and at another outlot will likely soon be a Summit Credit Union branch. The project developer, Wauwatosa-based Wangard Companies, also plans to build a second mixed-use building with 76 apartments and 45,000 square feet of commercial space.
