The state of Wisconsin announced in October it was offering up the former Department of Natural Resources office building in Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood for sale.
The high-profile site, located at the northeast corner of King Drive and North Avenue, has tremendous opportunity to continue the development momentum the neighborhood has enjoyed in recent years, say local real estate leaders.
The DNR vacated the two-story building at 2312 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in August, according to Department of Administration spokeswoman Tatyana Warrick. The DNR moved those operations to 1027 W. St Paul Ave. in Milwaukee.
State agencies had until the end of August to determine if they had any use of the property, Warrick said in an email. This is the first time the property has been offered to the public for sale.
“I think the site coming to market has been a long time coming,” said Kevin Newell, president and chief executive officer of Royal Capital Group.
Newell is working on a major project of his own a block south of the DNR building. The $100 million ThriveOn King project is redeveloping the former Gimbels-Schuster’s building at 2153 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive into offices, early-childhood educational programming, health and wellness space and affordable apartments. The building will be the home of the ThriveOn Collaboration of Royal Capital, Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the Medical College of Wisconsin.
The DNR building is also located across the street from Pete’s Fruit Market, which opened in 2017, and about a block east of America’s Black Holocaust Museum, which is reopening early next year after being closed for more than a decade.
James Phelps, president of Milwaukee-based JCP Construction and King Drive BID No. 8 board president, said the redevelopment of the former DNR site could help push development momentum and business growth farther northward on King Drive.
“I think I can speak on behalf of the board and say we’re looking for it to be a statement site, with it being on a key intersection there between King and North Avenue,” Phelps said.
He said a redevelopment there would hopefully create density and address some of the needs for goods and services in the neighborhood.
“It would be a great statement mixed-use development. (That) would be ideal,” Phelps said.
Most of the development activity that King Drive has seen in recent years has been south of North Avenue. To the north, Bader Philanthropies Inc. has redeveloped a pair of buildings closer to Capitol Drive, on the 3300 block of King Drive. Those projects include the organization’s new headquarters and the neighboring Harpole Building.
The BID is doing its part to bring more momentum north of North Avenue. It is working on a “catalytic project,” a real estate redevelopment effort somewhere along King Drive between North Avenue and Burleigh Street. Phelps said the BID hopes to have the site under control early next year. He declined to disclose additional details.
The city has laid broad development plans for the neighborhood. In 2018, the Department of City Development worked with the BID and other stakeholders to develop a plan for equitable, transit-oriented growth. It is meant to serve as a guiding document on how the planned King Drive streetcar extension will spur new businesses, housing opportunities and public spaces along the route. The streetcar is proposed to eventually head north along King Drive to North Avenue.
In September, Common Council members approved the Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District interim study overlay zone, which will help stakeholders identify long-term development strategies for sites like the DNR building, according to DCD.
“The city of Milwaukee and the (DCD) will continue working with the State of Wisconsin in following the state’s process of real estate disposition as indicated in their RFP,” DCD said in a written statement in response to a BizTimes inquiry. “... We look forward to working with the state, the local alderwoman, and the neighborhood to identify the best proposal for the property.”
Newell said the highest and best use for the former DNR buiding site would likely include multiple uses, including residential, commercial or something related to arts and culture.
