Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward neighborhood has successfully developed into a booming business, entertainment and residential district in the past 10 years. There is more to look forward to as renovation projects for condominiums finish construction, Lakeshore State Park comes to fruition and more retail and restaurants open for business.
Ron San Felippo is keeping a close eye on all of the development in the neighborhood, serving in his fifth year as president of the Historic Third Ward Association and in his first year as chairman of the Third Ward’s Business Improvement District (BID). He previously served on the board of the association and as vice chairman of the BID under Einar Tangen. San Felippo, a Milwaukee native whose father was born in the Third Ward, also has been a member of the Italian Community Center for 25 years. San Felippo recently discussed the future of Milwaukee and the Third Ward with Small Business Times reporter Elizabeth Hockerman. The following are excerpts from that interview.
SBT: Tell us a little bit about some projects that the BID or the Historic Third Ward are working on.
San Felippo: “The biggest thing we are working on now is the transition for our taking over the operation of the Milwaukee Public Market. That is coming along smoothly. We have had a tremendous outpouring of public support which is great. It’s our major project right now.
“But our BID also owns and operates the two parking structures in the ward, and those are very, very important. That parking has a tremendous multiplier effect. If you have parking, then you can have development. If you don’t have parking, it is very difficult for businesses to relocate if they are concerned about where their employees are going to park. So we are currently looking into the potential expansion of the Milwaukee Street parking ramp. It was built to add another two floors on top of it, so we are currently exploring what would be involved to do that because we are at the point where additional parking is important.”
SBT: Is the parking structure addition still in the exploration stage?
San Felippo: “We are just at the point where we realize that we need to look into expanding the parking capacity. So we just started looking into that. If we get to the point where the decision is to go ahead, it is not a long-term project. It is something we could get done in a relatively reasonable amount of time. Certainly under one year.”
SBT: As the Third Ward Association takes over operations of the Milwaukee Public Market, are there changes that you are thinking of making or any ideas or efforts you think would help it?
San Felippo: “The basic philosophy is going to be common sense. I mean we need to give the customers what they want, vs. trying to tell the customers what they want. We think that using common sense is a basic concept in providing kind of a little different experience in terms of primarily small vendors with high-quality products in addition to having to be kind of to some extent your neighborhood grocery store and a place where people can come and either buy ingredients to take home and make something or buy things already done you can take home and just heat up. We will help it be successful.
“And it will. It is very clear the Milwaukee Public Market is a community asset, and the community has a feeling of ownership of it, and we certainly want to encourage that.”
SBT: Is there the possibility for longer hours of operation or different types of vendors coming in as well?
San Felippo: “I think certainly looking at having it open longer hours, in particular having it open on Mondays, is going to be really important, and I think that is likely to happen. I think there is a good mix of vendors there now, there will always be some change over time, but for the most part the vendors that are there are able to offer really good stuff and I would expect majority of the vendors will be there for long haul. We are going to look at offering different things.
“The building is wired for Wi-fi. I don’t think it has been running, but we are going to make sure that works so anybody will be able to go and use their computer.
“The other thing that we are really going to emphasize is that the building needs to be a gathering place. There need to be things going on in that building all of the time. Maybe more art shows. Maybe once a month there is a Maxwell Street Days, maybe Saturday mornings, we will show cartoons up on the second floor and parents can come and their kids can watch cartoons and they can go down and shop. There is going to be a catering operation available for the second floor, which will be available for groups and organizations to use that space. We are going to do everything that makes sense to have that building full of activities all of the time. That was part of the original intent.”
SBT: As chairman of the BID, how would you describe your leadership style or philosophy? Is it different than that of Einar Tangen, or do you have the same vision that he was trying to promote?
San Felippo: “It is a continuation. I think the BID has been very fortunate since its inception in that it has had strong active leadership and a continuation of an overall vision. The overall vision going back to day one was to bring the Historic Third Ward back to being an active vibrant community of retail and commercial and residential, and I think we have been successful in doing that. Einar and I are different people, different backgrounds, but we have always shared the common goals.
“I was vice chair of the BID for a number of years under Einar, and I have been the president of the Historic Third Ward Association now for five years. Einar was the president before me. Obviously, we probably do things a little differently, but we are doing the same things and with the same goals and supported by very strong, active boards. It has never been a one-man show. You may see one person more than others, but the good things that have happened, the successes we have had, have been the result of a number of people who have spent a lot of time and effort in making this work.”
SBT: Do you know what the status of the hotel project proposed by Weas Development is?
San Felippo: “I know it is under consideration with the city, I have not heard anything specific about it for about a month now. I know the city is looking at a number of projects and looking at a number of TIF requests, and this is one of them, but I don’t have an update.”
SBT: Do you have an update on the Coachyards property and the proposal for the Italian Village-style development?
San Felippo: “A couple of things have happened there. Dominic Frinzi was elected president there this year. He has been a member there since day one. I think this is the sixth time he has been elected president of the Italian Community Center, and he is a member of our Historic Third Ward board of directors. At our last meeting, Dominick informed us that he is creating a blue ribbon committee to look into the potential redevelopment of the Coachyards lands, and there is nothing off the table. Many of the Italian families who are members of the Italian Community Center have a tremendous emotional tie to that land, and there certainly has always been a strong determination that whatever happens there, that people be involved in the decision-making and that it end up being a really good thing, not only for the Italian community, but the city.
“In my own case, I have been a member of the Italian Community Center for about 25 years. In terms of neighborhood development, I think the undeveloped land has been a plus for the Italian Community Center. There isn’t any timeframe that I am aware of, but certainly the new/old president of the ICC has announced he intends to move on that as one of his major projects this year.”
SBT: Are there some key sites in the Third Ward that are still great opportunities for developers?
San Felippo: “I think, over time, most of the undeveloped sites are going to be good opportunities. Is the market as hot as three years ago? No. But over time, is there going to continue to be strong demand for redevelopment, for additional housing, for other businesses? Absolutely. What is fascinating to me, and wonderful, is everything happening on the river. I mean, when I was a kid, the river was sort of the sewerage outlet and nobody wanted to do anything on the river, and now it’s (attracting) some of the hottest developments around, and I think that’s great.”
SBT: How does the Historic Third Ward Association work in cooperation with other nearby organizations?
San Felippo: “One of my major goals since I have been involved is to get everybody to play nice in the neighborhood. If we all talk to each other, we get things worked out. If you remember back a few years ago, Summerfest was at odds, and then the Milwaukee Art Museum. In the last few years, we have developed great relationships with all of the neighbors, and everybody talks to each other. (Milwaukee World Festival Inc. CEO) Don Smiley is a member of our board. As I mentioned, Dominic is a member of our board, and we have worked very hard to develop relationships with all of the major groups and entities around.
“And what happens now, when there is an issue, somebody calls and we tend to work it out. It is much more efficient for everybody, and we are very supportive of each other. I like to call it playing nice with the neighborhood. And we have been very, very appreciative that everybody has been supportive of that concept.
“There is a downtown collaborative group where the heads of the different groups, East Town, West Town, the downtown BID with Beth Nicols … our executive directors all meet regularly. There is a lot of cooperation and collaboration that people may not necessarily see, but everybody is helping each other.”
SBT: In the past few years, the Third Ward has been successful in attracting retailers. Do you see that trend continuing as buildings are renovated and spaces open up?
San Felippo: “I think so. On just about every redevelopment you find, there is likely to be a retail component on the first floor, and the nice thing about retail is, the more you have, the more you get. We have certainly lots more retail than we used to have, and we continue to add. I think we will continue to see retail development, in particular we are becoming an area for women’s boutiques and I think that will continue. We continue to develop restaurants and bars. I think we are at the point now where you become kind of a district and people come, they have different places they can go to, which is different than when you only have one or two. We are very optimistic that if we continue to work hard, we will continue to grow.”
SBT: How is the increasing development in the Fifth Ward and Walker’s Point affecting the Third Ward?
San Felippo: “I think the affect is positive. It is to everybody’s benefit to help each other, so we are happy to see redevelopment in the Fifth Ward, we are very happy to see the redevelopment of the Hack complex, which is actually in our business improvement district. (Kendall) Breunig is doing that. I think that will have a major impact because that was one of the few really good-sized cream city brick complexes that nothing had been done with for a long time. That and the opening up of St. Paul to two-way (traffic) is a plus.
“Gallery Night is exploding in the Third Ward and getting stronger and stronger, along with Christmas in the Ward, and the jazz festival continues to develop. We continue to look for fun things that we can provide for more activity. It is all part of the process. It is a fun time in the Ward and we will do everything we can to keep it that way.”
