The Bucks arena in downtown Milwaukee will include a skywalk from the parking structure that will be primarily used for Bucks and Marquette University season ticket holders, according to a team spokesman.
The skywalk is briefly mentioned in the latest documents filed by the Bucks with the city of Milwaukee ahead of the April 4 plan commission meeting where the public will have a chance to weigh in on zoning changes for the $500 million arena, training center and parking structure.
The skywalk is also depicted in preliminary drawings of the 1,243-space parking structure.
The skywalk will cross Juneau Avenue and connect to the north façade of the arena from the third floor of the garage to the main concourse level of the arena, said Bucks spokesman Jake Suski.
The Bucks will need to apply for approval of the skywalk separately from the area application. The application will have to be in accordance with the city’s skywalk approval process, Suski said.
“We’ll likely submit plans and an application in coordination with the city after the zoning and (plan commission) process,” Suski said.
Suski said the skywalk would be used “primarily” by Bucks and Marquette season ticket holders but could also be used by people who attend other events at the arena, including concerts and wrestling. Suski would not release how many season ticket holders the Bucks have.
In early March, the Bucks and the city announced that J.H. Findorff & Son Inc., which has offices in Madison and Milwaukee, would be the construction manager for the parking structure. Milwaukee-based engineering firm GRAEF and Milwaukee-based architecture firm American Design Inc. are designing the structure.
The city will own the parking structure when it is completed in October 2017.
The parking structure will include mixed-use components, including 10,000 square feet of retail space along Juneau Avenue and 11,000 square feet of office space along McKinley Avenue.
The mixed-use spaces will initially be designed as shell spaces, according to the Bucks. Approximately 100,000 square feet of apartment units with first floor retail or office is also planned along North Sixth Street, although the residential component is not included in the initial project.
The Common Council will vote on the rezoning request on May 24. The team is still negotiating a long-term arena lease with the Wisconsin Center District, Suski said.
Once the Common Council votes and the lease terms are agreed to, construction can begin.
The Bucks are hoping to begin construction on the arena in July and have scheduled it to be complete in August 2018, in time for the start of the 2018-’19 NBA season.
Construction is slated to begin in June on the six-story parking structure and on the new 55,000-square-foot training center.
