Construction is set to begin this summer on the new mixed-use development on Block 5 in the Park East corridor, but it’s bigger and somewhat different than what was previously planned.
The 2.19-acre block between Juneau, McKinley and Phillips Avenues and King Drive will be nearly filled with a 340,000-square-foot building with 269 market-rate apartments; 13,000 square feet of street-level commercial space; a public plaza on the northeast corner (where there are utility easements); a 290-space parking structure; and an athletic training facility for MATC.
The athletics facility could include a 28,000-square-foot two-court gymnasium with seating for up to 1,000, a fitness center, locker rooms, concessions, meeting rooms and other amenities that will serve the college’s athletics and health and fitness programs.
In 2024, MATC ’s women’s volleyball team won its first National Junior College Athletic Association Region 4 District Championship and took its first trip to the NJCAA Division II Volleyball National Tournament. The year before that the MATC Stormers men’s basketball team won its first National Junior College Athletic Association Division II championship.
The school’s other teams are moving up to NJCAA Division II, too, which allows MATC to offer students additional athletic scholarships.
The project is co-developed and co-owned by J. Jeffers & Company and the Milwaukee Bucks. MATC was expected to sign a lease agreement with the developers at the Deer District on Wednesday morning.
An earlier $80 million iteration of the plan included 219 apartments and was announced in November 2023. That plan also included a parking structure and about 27,000 square feet of commercial space.
“This is a great next step toward delivering a facility that our student-athletes and entire college community deserve, and we are excited to join two great partners,” said MATC President Anthony Cruz, Ed.D.
“Students and the community have indicated the importance of sports and delivering healthy entertainment outlets to enhance the student experience. That this is being built in Deer District is a bonus because of its notoriety, convenience and quality this will bring.”
The new plan is to create 124 studio, 130 one-bedroom and 15 two-bedroom apartments in the residential portion of the development, which has not yet been named.
Construction is slated to tip off this summer and is expected to take about 18 months.
“We're thrilled that this development, in partnership with J. Jeffers and the city of Milwaukee, will continue to redefine downtown Milwaukee,” said Michael Belot, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Senior Vice President of Business Operations and Chief Real Estate Development Officer.
“We are delighted to welcome MATC to Deer District with a facility that would include a gymnasium, fitness center, meeting rooms and more for its students and sports teams to enjoy year-round.”
J. Jeffers & Co. has previously partnered with MATC and the Bucks on the Westown Green student housing project in the former Journal Building across the street from the Deer District.
“This project offered the opportunity to continue investing in Milwaukee’s Deer District and Westown neighborhoods in collaboration with our valued partners, MATC and the Bucks,” said Brian Loftin, Chief Development Officer at J. Jeffers & Co.
“The redevelopment of Journal Square Block, which included the creation of student housing for MATC, marked the beginning of a strong and impactful partnership. We look forward to building on that foundation with this new development.”
In 2023 the Bucks and Fiserv Forum President Peter Feigin said that a parcel west of the Bucks training facility on North 6th Street and a half-block section just north of The Trade hotel are the two last big pieces available for development.
At that time, North Central Group, which developed The Trade, was also discussing a potential second hotel, which would be located at 6th and State Streets, with the Bucks.
Meanwhile, Madison-based FPC Live is currently constructing a concert venue in the Deer District, just south of the Fiserv Forum on the old Bradley Center site.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
