Here's more good news for Downtown diners.
According to industry sources, Restaurants Unlimited, Inc. of Seattle plans to bring its Kincaid's Fish, Chop and Steak House concept to Downtown.
And soon, once the deal is finalized, Kincaid's could be perched on the Milwaukee River inside the shuttered Third Street Pier space at 1110 N. Old World 3rd St.
"I do know that our company, Restaurants Unlimited, has reached a tentative agreement on a lease for a Kincaid's in downtown Milwaukee," said Jean-Pierre Legand, Sr. General Manager -- Kincaid's Bloomington (Minn.).
Third Street Pier restaurant and Edelweiss Cruise Lines, both icons on the Milwaukee River for nearly two decades, closed in October 2006. Edelweiss has since started again under new ownership, and soon the old Third Street Pier could have new life, too.
Rob Ruvin, who is redeveloping the entire building, said, "We are currently talking to national restaurateurs. They like the location of the Riverfront Plaza's due to proximity to the River, the Bradley Center and the emerging Park East.
"They are excited about being within walking distance of Manpower, Time Warner and Cramer Krasselt. The new restaurant will a significant part of our renovation and re-branding of the Riverfront Plaza."
Ruvin Development, Inc. also is working on other significant and innovative projects in the Park East area, and he and 11 other developers have formed a group called The Park East 12 that will work in a collaborative manner to monitor progress and potential in this emerging Downtown neighborhood.
Restaurants Unlimited was founded in 1969, and owns several "fine food in a casual atmosphere" restaurants around the country. It recently purchased Pacific Coast Restaurants Inc., a Portland-based operator of eight casual and fine-dining brands in the Pacific Northwest.
In total, Restaurants Unlimited operates 29 restaurants with three primary brands -- Kincaid's, Palomino, and Pizzeria Fondi -- and five single-unit concepts. It is a holding of Sun Capital Partners, a private-equity company based in Boca Raton, Fla.
Restaurants Unlimited said it doesn't comment on deals until they are fully completed, but Senior Director of Communications, John Bottum, a Chicago native, said his company would be "thrilled to find a great location in Milwaukee" and that it "fully intends to be there (in Milwaukee)."
Kincaid's currently has locations in St. Paul, Redondo Beach, Phoenix, Oakland, Norfolk, Honolulu, Carmel, Burlingame, Calif. and Bloomington.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
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