In the weeks and months following the uprising in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood in the summer of 2016, there was plenty of talk.
The unrest, prompted by the officer-involved fatal shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith, gave rise to a sense of urgency, as community forums convened around the question of what could be done about the city’s deep-seated social and economic disparities.
Credit: Dana Gaertner of White Dog Photography
JoAnne Johnson-Sabir envisions her new project, the Sherman Phoenix, becoming an example of taking action to address those disparities. In recognition of her efforts to heal Sherman Park,
JoAnne Johnson-Sabir is the BizTimes Best in Business 2017 Community Leader of the Year.
Johnson-Sabir, joined by Milwaukee developer Juli Kaufmann, has set out to redevelop the former BMO Harris Bank branch at 3536 W. Fond du Lac Ave., a longtime fixture in Sherman Park that was burned during the unrest, and transform it into a hub for local entrepreneurs.
“We’ve been in circles around conversations relative to segregation, relative to the economy and education,” Johnson-Sabir said. “Now this (project) is not going to be a panacea, but it will be a model of starting somewhere, of starting at a place that could potentially have significant impact. We’re moving from this inspired conversation to being inspired to take action.”
Set to open in the spring, the renovated building will house about a dozen businesses and feature a food hall, outdoor patio and gathering spaces for community events. Once it’s up and running, the project is expected to create 45 jobs.
The idea emerged as Johnson-Sabir began planning to grow her own business. She started The Juice Kitchen, a wellness-focused smoothie and juice bar in Milwaukee’s Lindsay Heights neighborhood, with her husband Maanaan Sabir in 2015 as part of a multi-use commercial development on the corner of North 16th Street and West North Avenue.
Around the time of the Sherman Park unrest, the New York Times featured the Sabirs in an article about segregation in the city. When the article was published, Kaufmann, who focuses on urban development projects, called Johnson-Sabir, asking if she was ready to take her business to Sherman Park.
“We said, ‘We’re willing. Let’s do it,’” Johnson-Sabir said.
The pair saw potential in the 20,000-square-foot bank building. And Johnson-Sabir saw a chance to provide more opportunities for entrepreneurs like herself.
“Through our two years of bricks and mortar (at The Juice Kitchen), we’ve just been inundated by entrepreneurs wanting support and looking for space and paying large sums of rent but wanting to be in the community and stay in Milwaukee,” she said. “So from there, we said, ‘Let’s grow this. Let’s grow what we know works. Let’s grow and cultivate the spirit of entrepreneurship in a hub.’”
A dozen black-owned businesses have signed on to the Sherman Phoenix project. They include The Juice Kitchen, Funky Fresh Spring Rolls, Embody Yoga, Sabir’s Karate Center, Hello Beautiful, RSVP Confections, Queens Closet Consignment Shop, #DreamsNeverExpire!, Sister Locs, Rees Barbershop, Studio 69 and Buffalo Boss.
Those connections have grown organically, as Johnson-Sabir stresses the role of building relationships to bring about change.
“We know that relationships are the foundation of any long-lasting, significant, impactful change in communities,” she said. “So we’re nurturing relationships, and leaning in to my husband Maanaan’s ability to look at everybody as an asset and listening to the desires of the community.”
More than simply listening to those desires, the Sherman Phoenix project aims to bring them to fruition – by eliminating barriers that often prevent minority entrepreneurs from pursuing their businesses.
“There is a need to be connected to something that lifts our spirits, that brings folks into the economy, that creates jobs, that does a little bit of everything that we’ve been wanting to see – everything we want to see in (healthy) communities, we’re working to create,” she said.
Part of the beauty of the project, Johnson-Sabir said, is that it’s replicable. While the Sherman Phoenix hasn’t yet left the ground, she already envisions more commercial streets in city neighborhoods becoming home to similar types of business hubs.
“It can be done over and over and over again,” she said.
