Kenosha-based
Bear Development is planning a new multi-family housing project in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood.
The firm recently submitted a request for a zoning change to the parking lot located at 1435 S. 1
st St. The site is just south of Fiesta Cafe.
Bear Development wants the lot, which is currently zoned for industrial mixed uses, to be rezoned for multi-family residential development.
The firm is looking to build a five-story, 69-unit building with a mix of one and two-bedroom units. Construction start is targeted for quarter two of 2026, according to representatives from the company.
Bear Development is planning to target households earning 60% of the area median income across the development and to utilize 4% tax credits.
Rockwell Automation has been using the land as a surface parking lot. Commercial real estate firm
CBRE has the parking lot listed for sale on its website for $525,000, along with two other smaller parking lots near Rockwell Automation’s headquarters.
Representatives from Rockwell Automation were not immediately available for comment Monday morning.
Bear Development is building
another Walker’s Point apartment building just a mile away from Rockwell Automation. That building is located at South 1
st Street and East National Avenue.
Plans for the 1435 S. 1
st St. property call for a five-story, 140-unit apartment building with around 3,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor.
