The owner of The Stilt House restaurant in Cedarburg wants to convert the Moto-Scoot building on North Water Street near downtown Milwaukee into a fast casual restaurant.
Gordon Goggin plans to open Gordo’s, a burger, taco and ice cream restaurant at 1652 N. Water St. The 1,120-square-foot, 90-year-old building is located in one of the city’s hottest residential and commercial development areas.
“Being a Milwaukeean and growing up with Kopp’s ice cream, it has been something that has been in my blood and always something I wanted to do,” Goggin said. “I love tacos, so I wanted to add them. In addition, I’m going to serve craft beer and margaritas.”
Goggin is planning to lease the building from owner William Weslow and hopes to open the restaurant in July. It would employ about 25 people.
The city’s Board of Zoning Appeals will review Goggin’s application for the project March 9.
Moto-Scoot, a scooter and small motorcycle shop, plans to relocate to 1420 E. Belleview Place on Milwaukee’s East Side by mid-March.
If the plans are approved, Gordo’s will join the booming North Water Street corridor that includes a 30,000-square-foot Fresh Thyme Farmers Market that opened last year and several high-end apartment developments.
In addition, Wauwatosa-based real estate firm Wangard Partners Inc. is currently converting the former Laacke & Joys building, 1433 N. Water St. into office space. The building’s anchor tenant will be marketing firm Bader Rutter, which is relocating from Brookfield.
Hammes Company is building a 94,000-square-foot office building at the northeast corner of Knapp and Water streets and will move its headquarters there from Brookfield.
“The amount of development in the area is tremendous,” Goggin said. “We are still working out the details of the deal itself but we are getting close to getting everything finalized. I love the neighborhood and the growth and I’m hoping I can contribute something new with this concept and give people what I believe they want.”
Goggin and Keith Reid, a former executive with MillerCoors, opened the Stilt House in Cedarburg in 2013.
Goggin has 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry, including spending time as director of operations for The Lowlands Restaurant Group, which operates Café Hollander.
