Pabst revamp coming together
Sale of building to developers announced at groundbreaking
By Tom Daykin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January, 2007
More than five years after Pabst Brewing
Co. agreed to sell its downtown Milwaukee brewery -
and 18 months after the brewery's initial redevelopment
proposal died - its transformation is under way, and
there are new plans for one of the buildings at the
21-acre site.
"This is the first of many milestones,"
said real estate investor Joseph Zilber, who bought
the Pabst property in August and created conceptual
plans for the new development, dubbed The Brewery. "I'm
very, very excited about the progress we are making."
Zilber, on speaker phone from his winter
home in Hawaii, and others spoke Tuesday to a crowd
of city officials, real estate industry professionals
and reporters at an event that was a mix of celebration
and marketing. Zilber is beginning environmental cleanup
and other work so he can sell large portions of the
Pabst site to various developers, and many of those
who gathered at Blue Ribbon Hall were getting a sales
pitch.
John Kersey, who's helping oversee
the development for Zilber, acknowledged that support
for the project has come with some skepticism. People
like the concept but want to know when the project will
be "real," he said.
"I'm here to tell you, as of today,
we are real," said Kersey, director of Towne Investments,
a division of Zilber Ltd.
Kersey later announced that two Milwaukee
developers have formed an investors group to buy a building
at the site, and they plan to remodel it into office
space.
Charles Trainer of TMB Development
Co. and Max Dermond of Dermond Property Investments
LLC have agreed to buy the 55,000-square-foot former
boiler house, which is just west of N. 10th St. and
one block north of W. Juneau Ave.
Dermond and Trainer said they plan
to complete their purchase by September. Remodeling
work will begin by the end of this year on the three-story
building, which also will have street-level retail space,
they said.
Dermond and Trainer already have spoken
with prospective tenants, including local architectural
firms. Dermond said the next step is to select a design
firm to work on the project.
Trainer's projects include restoration
of the Iron Block Building, 205 E. Wisconsin Ave., which
he later sold. Dermond's projects include the remodeling
of an office building, built in 1910, at 757 N. Broadway.
Other plans
So far, the only other announced purchase
agreement at the Pabst complex is with Madison-based
Gorman & Co., which plans to create 90 to 100 loft-style
apartments within the former Pabst keg house. That 138,000-square-foot
building overlooks W. McKinley Blvd, and it is just
across 10th St. from the former boiler house.
Other possible uses at the former brewery
include an international corporate training site operated
by Johnson Controls Inc. and a brew pub developed by
local investor Jim Haertel and his partners, who own
the former Blue Ribbon Hall, gift shop and offices,
901-917 W. Juneau Ave.
Zilber said negotiations are continuing
with Johnson Controls on that company's possible development,
which also could attract a hotel to The Brewery.
The Common Council in December approved
a $29 million financing plan to help redevelop the Pabst
complex. Most of the money will help pay for demolition,
environmental cleanup and construction of new streets,
sewers and other public improvements.
Property taxes from the $205 million
development will pay off the city's debt, plus an estimated
$12.5 million in interest charges, over 21 years, according
to the city's comptroller's office.
Ald. Robert Bauman, whose district
includes the Pabst site, said at Tuesday's groundbreaking
ceremony that the development carries a high risk, both
for Zilber and the city. But the risk is worth taking
because of the "tremendous potential" of replacing
a large, deteriorating property with new uses, Bauman
said.
Mayor Tom Barrett called the area "an incredibly
important neighborhood" that ties the central city
to downtown.
The Pabst redevelopment will be done
in phases, and likely take more than five years to complete.
Some buildings will be razed, while others with historic
value will be preserved.
The brewery has been largely vacant
since Pabst closed the facility in 1996. Pabst agreed
to sell it in 2001 to Haertel and his partners. One
year later, they sold their purchase option to an investors
group led by Wispark LLC, the development subsidiary
of Wisconsin Energy Corp.
Wispark and its partners proposed PabstCity,
a $317 million development that would have included
entertainment venues, nightclubs, restaurants, shops,
housing and offices. The Common Council rejected a financing
plan for PabstCity, with some aldermen saying PabstCity's
heavy reliance on retail and entertainment uses raised
concerns about its long-term viability.
Some of those critical alderman - Michael
D'Amato, Michael Murphy and Common Council President
Willie Hines - attended the Tuesday's ceremony.
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