A $20.2 million proposal for a 54-unit apartment complex and arts and technology hub has been chosen by a city panel as the best fit for 1.2 acres of city-owned land at the northwest corner of Sixth Street and North Avenue in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville district.
The Bronzeville Advisory Committee this week selected the project from three proposals submitted by developers in a response to a request for proposals (RFP) issued by the city last fall.
Dubbed the Bronzeville Arts and Technology Hub, the proposal for the three-story, mixed-use development was pitched by Milwaukee-based FIT Investment Group and Cinnaire Solutions.
It beat out two other multi-family, mixed use proposals, one from the MLK Economic Development Corp. and KG Development Group, and another from Horizon Group, Midwest Affordable Housing Corp., and Northern Star.
All three developers offered the same amount of money or the site: $300,000.
Led by developers Michael Adetoro of FIT Investment Group and Elisabeth Rusk of Cinnaire Solutions, the Bronzeville Arts and Technology Hub would include 22,000 square feet for a music and arts incubator for local artists as well as 10 commercial units. The 54 apartments would include three live/work units for artists, and 44 of the units would be designated as affordable housing.
Adetoro’s company has previously worked with the city to do scattered housing site redevelopments and is currently wrapping up a project that involved the rehabilitation of 43 blighted homes in the Washington Park neighborhood. Cinnaire Solutions, which has offices across the country, including in Milwaukee, worked with Adetoro’s on that project.
Other development partners include 2112 Chicago, an incubator in Chicago dedicated to helping film, and creative technology entrepreneurs. Led by Scott Fetters, 2112 operates a 160,00-square-foot “creative ecosystem” facility for entrepreneurs in fields like sound engineering, music and film production, digital marketing, and arts advocacy.
Engberg Anderson Architects is the design firm for the Bronzeville Arts and Technology Hub project.
