The city of Milwaukee has selected
Martin Luther King Economic Development Corp. to develop a city-owned site across the street from the Bader Philanthropies Inc. headquarters.
The group will develop a mixed-use building with ground floor retail and 57 units of housing, according to a news release from Milwaukee's Department of City Development.
The 1.1-acre site is located at 3317-3349 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, near the northwest corner of West Concordia Avenue and North Martin Luther King Drive in the Five Points area. It was advertised for sale as a commercial development opportunity by DCD in the fall.
According to DCD, the city received four proposals for purchasing and redeveloping the land. DCD will work with the group on the development, the release states.
No further details of the project or next steps were provided. According to the
request for proposals, the city was asking for $98,000 for the land.
Representatives of MLKEDC weren't immediately available for comment on Friday.
MLKEDC is a neighborhood-based nonprofit development organization that works to improve conditions in Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood. It has developed and currently owns and manages a portfolio of 193 affordable housing units, along with 63,800 square feet of retail and office space.
Nicole Robbins was named its new executive director last summer.
The new mixed-use building would be the latest development project to occur in the neighborhood in recent years.
Across the street, at 3300 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, is a formerly vacant building that
Bader Philanthropies redeveloped and
moved into in July 2018.
Just to the north of that building, Bader Philanthropies is also working to turn a vacant two-story building at 3338 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive into a cafe and wellness center. The renovated building will be occupied by Sam’s Place eatery and cafe and Shalem Healing, Inc., a nonprofit medical clinic.
"The proposed development will build on recent development in the area and hopefully attract additional investment," DCD stated in the release.
