Co-developers of the Milwaukee Athletic Club renovation – J. Jeffers & Co. and Interstate Development Partners – have tapped Milwaukee’s Kahler Slater to coordinate the project and lead the design work.
The $30 million renovation, which the developers called "mega-scale," of the 12-story, 200,000-square foot building, was announced in November. The plan is to modernize the club and expand and upgrade hotel operations.
You can read more about that here. And you can see inside the club and learn more about its history here in this Urban Spelunking article I did after a visit last summer.
Kahler Slater was already involved in the project in its planning phase and in the applications for federal and state historic preservation tax credits, according to a news release, which added that design and planning work is now underway.
Kahler Slater is also taking the lead on the design of the new Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra facility at the former Warner Grand Theater. Recent hotel projects by the firm include the Westin Milwaukee and the transformation of the Button Block into the Homewood Suites hotel.
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.
