Greenfield could get a new community ice arena, to be used by junior league hockey team Milwaukee Power, which would be built at Milwaukee-based developer Cobalt Partners LLC's
planned mixed-use project where I-894 meets Loomis Road.
Local Hockey Partners LLC, the ownership group behind the Milwaukee Power of the
North American 3 Hockey League, announced it is forming a joint venture with Chesterfield, Missouri-based Mia Rose Holdings LLC to design and build a multi-sheet community ice center at Cobalt's master-planned development.
Construction of the Greenfield Community Ice Center is slated to begin in the summer, with a fall 2022 opening. In addition to hosting the Milwaukee Power, the facility could also host numerous youth hockey games and tournaments. It is expected to bring in around 750,000 visitors and generate more than $50 million in economic impact for the community in its first 10 years of operation, according to a news release.
It also better positions the ownership group to bring a future North American Hockey League team to the Milwaukee community, said Chase Ernst, chief executive officer of Local Hockey Partners.
"Our vision from day one was to create a state-of-the-art, multi-sheet, community ice center that would become the epicenter for the collective Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin ice community," Ernst said in a statement. "The Greenfield Community Ice Center brings that ‘local’ vision one step closer to reality. Because of what this facility will attract and accommodate we will immediately make this facility a local, regional and national destination."
The ice center will be built along I-894, east of
The Turf skatepark site, said Scott Yauck, president and CEO of Cobalt.
The arena and skatepark will make up just one part of the 38-acre project site. Other project components could include retail, office, medical, multi-family, a hotel, a gas station and a billboard.
Greenfield Common Council members on Tuesday approved a rezoning of the project site to support the mixed-use redevelopment project. Cobalt said it intends to conduct neighborhood meetings in the coming months as plans become more refined.
“We are excited to again work in public/private partnership with the city of Greenfield to transform this highly visible and accessible but underutilized site into a vibrant and productive mix of uses consistent with thecCity’s long-standing vision for this area,” Yauck said in a statement.
The Turf project is being led by the city of Greenfield and the
South 27th Street Business District Association, a non-profit group that represents three business improvement districts. It is being built where the old skatepark by the same name once stood. The Milwaukee-area skateboard community is also involved with the skatepark's design and raising money for its development.
The joint venture overseeing the ice arena project is LHP-MRH JV LLC. The ice arena general contractor will be St. Louis, Missouri-based ARCO Construction.
“This (project) makes Greenfield a better place that showcases the city in a very positive way," Mayor Michael Neitzke said in a statement. "While some other places struggle looking for the right kinds of economic impact, we’re blessed with what promises to be another great overall development."
