The owners of Milwaukee Pedal Tavern and Bay View’s Boone & Crocket bar are purchasing a 133-year-old warehouse in Walker’s Point to open a joint operation.
Derek Collins, who owns Milwaukee Pedal Tavern LLC and Milwaukee Cycle Boat LLC, known as the Paddle Tavern, and John Revord, owner of Boone & Crocket, are the 60 percent majority owners in a new venture, Conflux Holdings LLC.
The company is planning to purchase and renovate a three-story, 21,000-square-foot building at 820 S. Water St. in the city’s Harbor District. The purchase also includes the parking lot located at 748 S. Water St. where the Pedal Tavern vehicles can be stored and 218 square feet of inner harbor storage for the Paddle Tavern vehicles.
Collins and his partners launched Pedal Tavern in 2010. The Paddle Tavern was started in 2017.
Currently, Pedal Tavern riders are picked up at Steny’s Tavern & Grill, 800 2nd St. and the Paddle Tavern launches from The Harp Irish Pub, 113 E. Juneau Ave.
“Stenny’s and the Harp have been great, but there are parking issues,” Collins said. “It will be nice to tailor a building and a tour toward our customers.”
On Jan. 18, the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp. approved a $500,000 loan for the purchase of the building. The purchase and improvement project is about $2.6 million, according to loan documents.
Ryan Lloyd and Ryan Jaeger, co-founders of Milwaukee Pedal and Paddle Tavern, and Mitchell Ciohon, the chef of Gypsy Taco, are also listed as members of Conflux Holdings LLC.
Collins would not comment on the Boone & Crocket/Gypsy Taco aspect of the building. He would only say the bar and restaurant will be included in the plans.
Representatives from Boone & Crocket did not respond to calls or emails.
The Boone & Crocket location in Bay View, 2151 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. has been sold to an unknown buyer, according to commercial real estate sources.
“I would say we are in the extreme early stages of this,” Collins said. “We’re working on a couple of more things, but I can’t go into too much more details.”
Collins said he would like to begin renovation on the building as soon as possible.
