With the new
Milwaukee Public Museum set to be open in 2027, Milwaukee County is ramping up efforts to plan for the future of the current museum site with officials selecting a development team to complete a due diligence and feasibility study.
The existing county-owned museum is being replaced by a new, privately-owned museum under construction at the northeast corner of North 6th Street and West McKinley Avenue, vacating the current museum building, which opened in 1962, located on a 3.7-acre site at 800 W. Wells St.
To begin planning the future use of the current museum site, Milwaukee County’s Economic Development Division is working with a team led by Milwaukee-based civil engineering, planning and design firm
Graef, with support from Kenosha-based
Bear Real Estate Group and Milwaukee-based construction firm
CG Schmidt to conduct a due diligence review of the building and develop three scenarios for future development.
The unanimous selection came after an August request for proposals. The county entered into a Professional Services Agreement with Graef at the end of 2024, county documents say.
The team will "provide Milwaukee County with a detailed report of the property’s existing conditions and will use the existing conditions to complete a site use development analysis with up to three development scenarios,"
Celia Benton, director of economic development wrote in a memo to the County Board. "This analysis will consider multiple scenarios for the site’s future and will identify constraints and opportunities for each scenario. Each scenario will also be assessed for its potential impact to the county, its alignment with community needs, and its compatibility with the City of Milwaukee’s Downtown Plan 2040."
The 2040 downtown plan, developed by the city and the Downtown Milwaukee Business Improvement District,
envisions high-density, mixed-use redevelopment of the museum site, with “mixed income housing and neighborhood supporting commercial uses on the ground floor;” as well as an extension North 8th Street one block north of West Wells Street.
The report is expected to be released before the end of 2025, Benton said.
[caption id="attachment_568233" align="aligncenter" width="768"]
A draft plan for the Connec+ing MKE Downtown Plan 2040 re-envisions MacArthur Square and the site at along Wells Street where the outgoing Milwaukee Public Museum now sits. (Rendering courtesy of TKWA)[/caption]
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