Plans surfaced last week of Alterra’s intention to move into an empty bank building at the intersection of Lincoln, Kinnickinnic and Howell avenues in the heart of Bay View.
At first it appeared that Alterra would move its baking operations to the Maritime site and use tax-exempt industrial development revenue bonds for this project and three others in the works. But Alterra’s renderings, turned up by Michael Timm at the Bay View Compass, show that Alterra has more expansive plans. Like, a café and a roof deck. See for yourself.
The plan’s use of city-backed industrial bonds won provisional approval by the city’s Economic Development Committee, but the neighborhood’s alderman Tony Zielinski said he wanted to hold a community meeting on the matter before the full council voted on it on Tuesday.
(You can find video of last Tuesday’s meeting here. It’s fascinating. Watch the whole thing.)
So the meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 12, at the Bay View Library.
Should be interesting.
Alterra’s plan to put its baking operations there was a headscratcher.
I mean, it’s an incredible spot for retail or a restaurant; it’s the heart of the neighborhood’s commercial district. The city seemed to portray that project as being solely a baking operation. Here’s some communication from Ron Leonhardt, the city clerk about the project:
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(i) acquisition, rehabilitation, equipping and expansion of an approximately 24,000 square-foot facility located at 2301 South Kinnickinnic Avenue, 2314-2320 South Howell Avenue and 2328 South Howell Avenue, all in the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to be used by the Borrower to manufacture bakery and other prepared foods;
DCD Commissioner Rocky Marcoux reiterated that in a letter to the committee:
The Milwaukee projects consist of the acquisition, renovation and equipping of a 24,000 square-foot facility at South Kinnickinnic and South Howell Avenues to produce bakery and other prepared foods….
Why put a closed-to-the-public bakery there?
Because it won’t solely be a “wholesale bakery.” The sketches of the multiuse building make more sense for the site.
The trouble, though, is that that section of Bay View has a ton of cafes (plus restaurants and bars). Just kitty-corner from the proposed Alterra there’s Stone Creek (which has been there for ages--before Bay View became the neighborhood it is today) and Wildflour Bakery. Plus Lulu’s and Café Centraal, although they offer much more than a place for lunch or coffee. Just down the road there’s Hi-Fi Café, Honeypie, Sven’s, Anodyne, the Outpost--like I said, a lot. A big Alterra project could draw customers from those existing businesses--unless you believe that more cafes mean more shoppers and coffee drinkers in the entire area.
Like I said, the Monday meeting should be interesting.
