The Moderne, a 30-story residential tower under construction southwest of Juneau Avenue and Old World Third Street should provide a major boost to one of downtown Milwaukee’s oldest business districts.
Expected to be complete in September, The Moderne will be the tallest building west of the Milwaukee River downtown. It will have 203 apartments and 14 condominiums, which will bring a huge population boost of urban dwellers within a short walk of the bars and restaurants on Old World Third Street.
“It’s just going to bring more people into the area that will be going out,” said Josh Cherry, manager of The Loaded Slate bar and restaurant, located in the former Café Vecchio Mondo building at 1137 N. Old World Third St., right next door to The Moderne. “I think it will bring in a lot more customers.”
“The businesses on Old World Third Street have traditionally depended heavily on foot traffic from events at the Bradley Center and the U.S. Cellular Arena,” said Stacie Callies, executive director of the Westown Association, the business improvement district for the west side of downtown. “Bringing in a project like The Moderne is going to create more of a (year-round) clientele for the businesses, so they will be less reliant on customers from events.”
In addition, the entire first floor retail space of The Moderne will be occupied by a Carson’s Prime Steaks and Famous BBQ restaurant. Carson’s is one of Chicago’s most popular and critically acclaimed restaurants, with locations just north of downtown Chicago and in Deerfield, Ill. (a Chicago suburb). Carson’s was named by Chicago Magazine as one of the “Top 40 Chicago Restaurants Ever,” and has received numerous other accolades.
Dean Carson, the owner of Carson’s, has signed a 20-year-lease, for the entire 8,000-square-foot first floor retail space in The Moderne. The restaurant could open as early as October.
“It’s a major, major coup to have (Dean Carson) come to Milwaukee,” said Rick Barrett, owner of Barrett Visionary Development LLC and the lead developer for The Moderne.
The restaurant space is being designed by Matt Rinka owner of Milwaukee-based Rinka Chung Architecture, who designed The Moderne. His firm has also designed spaces for several popular Milwaukee restaurants including: Café Benelux, Cafe Hollander, Cafe Centraal, Brick 3 Pizza, Nomad World Pub, Trocadero and Blackthorn Irish Pub.
“People who know about Carson’s get so excited when I tell them they are coming to The Moderne,” Rinka said.
Carson said Barrett “nicely harassed” him for months until he finally convinced him to open a restaurant in The Moderne.
“Rick is a persistent person in every sense of the word,” Carson said.
“I just felt it was the exact right fit for the exact right building,” Barrett said.
Carson’s is a fine dining steak and barbeque restaurant where it’s acceptable for customers to lick their fingers, Carson said. Servers put a bib on each customer.
“We’re fine dining without the pretense and without the grandiose prices,” Carson said. “We want the food to be great, not the prices. I don’t think we’re a restaurant for foodies. We’re a restaurant for food lovers. There is no filler on the menu. If I didn’t think it was as good as it could be it wouldn’t make it on the menu. I am just as proud of the chicken Caesar salad as I am of a rib.”
Carson’s will join an already lengthy restaurant lineup on Old World Third Street. Existing restaurants on the street include: Molly Cool’s, Mader’s, Lucille’s Piano Bar and Grill, Tutto, Irish Rec Room, Buck Bradley’s, Old German Beer Hall, Brat House and The Loaded Slate. All of those restaurants are located within two blocks, just south of The Moderne.
Carson’s will provide a fine dining option for Old World Third Street, which mostly has casual bar and grill type restaurants, Callies said.
“Generally, there’s a lot of buzz about the Carson’s announcement,” she said. “I think Carson’s will be a good compliment to the existing restaurant mix on the street.”
The other restaurants on the street are hoping get the residents of The Moderne to come through their doors.
“I’m looking forward to (completion of The Moderne),” said Nolan Russo, general manager of Irish Rec Room, 1023 N. Old World Third St. “Hopefully it will bring in more business. If we could get a few of them to become regular customers, it would be awesome.”
Cherry said The Loaded Slate plans to offer food and drink discounts to residents of The Moderne.
“We’re basically in their basement,” he said. “People like to have a bar in their basement.”
The Aloft hotel, located kitty-corner across the street from The Moderne, could benefit from the addition of Carson’s, which will give its guests one more restaurant to check out on Old World Third Street.
Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern, 1110 N. Old World Third St., received an uptick in business after the Aloft hotel opened in (late 2009), said restaurant manager Juila Bettis.
“When the Aloft opened up we definitely saw a lot of business people coming in from them,” she said. “We’re hoping to see the same thing from (The Moderne).”
