Caravan Hospitality Group LLC has been selected as the food and beverage vendor for Vel R. Phillips Plaza, currently under construction on Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Milwaukee, and would operate a Nomad Coffee Bar in the building, the city of Milwaukee announced today.
The plans will be reviewed on Jan. 18 by the city’s Redevelopment Authority.
Vel R. Phillips Plaza is being built south of Wisconsin Avenue between North 5th Street and North Vel R. Phillips Avenue in downtown’s Westown neighborhood. The city is using more than $15 million in tax incremental financing dollars to construct the plaza, located across Wisconsin Avenue from the Baird Center and between the Hilton Milwaukee City Center Hotel and the HUB640 building, where a Kohl’s store recently opened and where Fiserv will soon open its new corporate headquarters.
The plaza will include a 2,900-square-foot food/beverage retail space (which would be occupied by Nomad Coffee Bar), a manicured garden, a flex space that could host farmers markets, food trucks or other community events, public art installations, and a station to accommodate Milwaukee County’s Bus-Rapid Transit Line. The Hop streetcar could be extended through the plaza in the future.
Nomad Coffee Bar currently has one location, at 1668 N. Warren Ave., just off of Brady Street on the city’s East Side.
“The City of Milwaukee is quickly advancing work at the Vel R. Phillips Plaza in Westown. It’s adding to vibrancy and growth downtown,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “I look forward to Nomad Coffee Bar, a local business that will spur further economic development to this area. It is one more element enhancing this world class gathering space honoring Vel R. Phillips.”
The proposed lease between the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee and Caravan Hospitality Group as the food and beverage vendor would include a cash grant for up to $750,000 for tenant improvements in the 2,900-square-foot food/beverage retail space at the plaza.
Nomad Coffee Bar anticipates opening later in 2024.
“I am so excited for the opportunity to be a part of the growing energy and revitalization of the Westown neighborhood and believe the Nomad Coffee Bar concept is a perfect fit for the VRP Plaza,” Caravan chief executive officer Mike Eitel said. “The synergies between the mission of the VRP Plaza, the Nomad Coffee Bar as a business model, and the core values of Caravan Hospitality’s company culture are truly aligned.”
“I support the proposed lease that will enliven this public space in honor of a true icon of our greater community, Vel R. Phillips,” said Alderman Robert Bauman. “I am pleased that Mike Eitel is the successful respondent and investing in the Vel R. Phillips Plaza. This development will enhance this transportation hub by providing better connections to neighborhoods.”
The Department of City Development will soon announce the three finalists for an art installation in honor of Vel R. Phillips at the plaza. Phillips was both the first African American and first woman elected to the city’s Common Council, the first female judge in Milwaukee County and the first black judge in the state of Wisconsin. She was the first woman to hold the office of Secretary of State in Wisconsin and the first African American to win a statewide election.
