The new owners of Schlitz Park say the changes they are making to the downtown Milwaukee office complex will strengthen the connections between the buildings and enhance amenities for tenants.
Schlitz Park was acquired in early 2019 by a joint venture of San Francisco and Fort Worth, Texas-based
TPG Real Estate and Detroit-basedÂ
Crestlight Capital. In the time since, the new ownership have begun making changes.
Changes include a
new partnership with F Street Hospitality, a division of Milwaukee-based F Street Group, to oversee all food and beverage operations at Schlitz Park. The owners are also working with Milwaukee-based architect Rinka and general contractor
ADK Design Inc. on $6 million in renovations to the campus.
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John Coury, principal at Crestlight, said the changes follow several main objectives: To pay homage to the history of the former Schlitz brewery, increase connectivity and wayfinding throughout the campus, and enhance its food and beverage offerings.
"Residents in Milwaukee really view Schlitz Park as a collection of five different buildings, and they think of just the RiverCenter, just the Bottle House or just the Stock House," Coury said. "They don't think of them as all connected, so we wanted to connect all the buildings into one true 32-acre campus."
The lengthy list of changes include renewed activation along the Milwaukee River; new signage and artwork, including a new mural to replace the old Schlitz Park logo on the Powerhouse building; updated tenant spaces and common areas; and a new "campus epicenter" called Crossroads Plaza, which will feature a pedestrian plaza, a truss with historical Schlitz lettering across the plaza, "SCHLITZ" lettering and a second-story bridge on the RiverCenter building.
Coury said Schlitz Park ownership is working with Milwaukee Downtown BID No. 21 to select artists to create the new mural. He said they would have more details to share in the fall.
"We want to do something that's a little more artistic that embraces both the spirit of what Schlitz was and celebrates downtown Milwaukee in this area," he said.
The RiverCenter building will have an updated lobby and waiting area, modernized conference rooms and multiple tenant lounges with an assortment of games, TVs and other entertainment options.The existing RiverCenter loading dock is being converted into a new entry and exit area connected to the new Crossroads Plaza.
An area currently used as storage could be turned into a 12,000-square-foot tenant space, which would have direct access to the pedestrian plaza and RiverCenter amenity space.
The Pump House building, which sits between the RiverCenter building and the river, has new exterior signs.
Schlitz Park ownership is also adding rotating food truck options with outdoor seating and lighting in addition to the Cherry Street "take-out Tuesdays."
Updates to the Bottle House building include a new direct entrance to Crossroads Plaza, updated lobby and waiting area and exposing a current internal stairwell.
The Stock House building will also have updated lobby and waiting areas and a reconfigured Cherry Street entrance.
F Street Hospitality is reopening the Brown Bottle restaurant with an updated look and menu. It will also be the location of a new pop-up cafe, which will have rotating food options. The RiverCenter cafe is being renovated and will include new grab-and-go items.
The campus-wide updates are already underway. All renovation work is expected to finish by the first quarter of next year.
Schlitz Park is a five-building, 775,000-square-foot former brewery turned office campus just north of downtown Milwaukee. It was originally redeveloped in the 1980s by The Brewery Works, a group led by the Grunau and Sampson families.
