‘Creative corridor’ in Walker’s Point
Recently rebuilt S. 5th St. a boon for area businesses
Looking back, Mark Lathers offers a blunt view of the Walker’s Point building he converted from nondescript industrial use to a flashy new home for a restaurant, juicing company and other businesses.
“It probably belonged in a dumpster,” Lathers said, as workers toiled to finish the remodeling project by late January.
That’s when Fuel Cafe, a longtime Riverwest coffeehouse, plans to open its second location. It will join three other tenants — Juiced, Proximity Malt and TKWA UrbanLab architectural studio — in the transformed building at 644 S. 5th St.
That $1.48 million redevelopment, anchored by Fuel, is among the new investments on a seven-block stretch of S. 5th St. between W. Virginia and W. Scott streets that was recently rebuilt.
The street project was largely completed on Nov.17 and includes wider sidewalks for outdoor restaurant, tavern and craft brewery tap room seating. That $1.49 million project included new streetlights and landscaping, with some of that work continuing into 2017, according to the city Department of Public Works.
“You look down the street now, and it looks clean and it looks inviting,” said Steve Pribek, co-owner of Urban Harvest Brewing Co., which opened in April at 1024 S. 5th St.
Urban Harvest slogged through a summer and fall construction season when S. 5th St. was torn up. But the tap room’s additional outdoor seating amounts to “a real bonus,” Pribek said.
Urban Harvest is among three craft breweries on that stretch of S. 5th St. The others are Brenner Brewing Co., 706 S. 5th St., and MobCraft Beer Inc., which opened in July at 505 S. 5th St.
MobCraft’s new tap room includes live music on Thursday nights and special events such as private parties, said Henry Schwartz, chief executive officer.
Other new businesses on the street include Hamburger Mary’s, which in November replaced the former La Perla Mexican restaurant, 734 S. 5th St. The street’s older destination businesses include such Mexican restaurants as La Fuente and Botanas.
South 5th St. also still has such industrial business as stationery-maker Leader Paper Products Co.
Leader Paper is considering a possible move to a building west of Mitchell International Airport. That would create a redevelopment opportunity for its facility on the block bordered by S. 5th, S. 6th, W. Walker and W. Mineral streets,
The neighborhood’s industrial legacy includes the 15,000-square-foot building that Lathers and his wife, Denise, bought in June 2015 from Reliable Plating Works
Inc. for $200,000.
The couple’s investment group, Denmark Q LLC, in October 2015 received a $425,000 loan from nonprofit business lender Milwaukee Economic Development Corp. to help remodel the two-story building. The project’s primary lender is Tri-City National Bank.
Lathers learned about the building, vacant since Reliable Plating moved in 2009 to a facility near the airport, from real estate broker Kristian Sydow, of Boerke Co.
Lathers was familiar with the Walker’s Point neighborhood and its growing roster of new businesses. He is vice president at Kelly Construction & Design LLC, which served as a general contractor on such neighborhood projects as Brenner Brewing, the Iron Horse Hotel and Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.
Juiced, a natural juice production business, was the first tenant at the S. 5th St. building.
Juiced, which mainly sells its products through Sendik’s Food Markets and other wholesale accounts, wanted more production space, said co-owner Brad Paradeis. The company moved in June to the building from 1749 N. Farwell Ave.
Its new location will allow Juiced to expand its wholesale revenue from around 60% of sales to 90% of sales, Paradeis said. Juiced also has a retail outlet that will draw more customers now that the street reconstruction is completed, he said.
“We like the visibility of the area,” he said.
Another manufacturer, Proximity Malt LLC, moved to the building in June.
Proximity, founded in 2015, is building two malting facilities, in Monte Vista, Colo., and Laurel, Del., that will serve local craft brewers and other specialty malt users in the Mid-Atlantic and Mountain Southwest regions.
The S. 5th St. building is the company’s headquarters, including offices, a research and development lab and a retail outlet that will open in January, said Amy Germershausen, vice president of sales and marketing. The storefront will serve home brewers, she said.
Proximity likes the building because it involved redeveloping a property into a new use, Germershausen said. That’s the same approach the company is taking with its Colorado and Delaware malting facilities, and is part of its commitment to a sustainable business model, she said.
Also, the company’s headquarters is within walking distance of several craft brewers and distillers in Walker’s Point.
“It was karma that we found this space,” Germershausen said.
TKWA UrbanLab is a new architectural studio focusing on downtown and its adjacent neighborhoods. The company was formed by Cedarburg-based The Kubala Washatko Architects Inc. It began using the studio space in November.
Kubala Washatko is the architect on Lathers’ redevelopment project. The transformed building gives UrbanLab an accessible space in an energetic atmosphere, said Chris Socha, who leads the studio.
“For us, it’s the kind of synergy, the kind of environment we want to be in where there are people creating things,” he said.
Fuel Cafe is probably the building’s best-known tenant.
Scott Johnson and his partner, Leslie Montemurro, opened Fuel in 1993 at 818 E. Center St. The S. 5th St. location will have 5,800 square feet, compared with around 1,500 square feet at the Riverwest cafe, Johnson said.
The larger Walker’s Point location will feature a full-service restaurant and bar, with seating that includes a mezzanine level and outdoor courtyard.
The location also is close to the Iron Horse Hotel and Harley-Davidson Museum, which ties in with Fuel’s motorcycle-friendly vibe. The Riverwest cafe includes motorcycle decor, and Johnson is co-creator of the annual Mama Tried Motorcycle Show. The show will be held from Feb. 17 through Feb. 19 at 126 S. 2nd St., in Walker’s Point.
The conversion work on the Fuel space continues toward the restaurant’s planned late January opening.
The building has undergone major renovations, including a new roof, sprinkler system and electrical system.
“We are redoing everything,” Lathers said.
Meanwhile, the S. 5th St. rebuild also involved big changes. The goals included encouraging a “creative corridor” for the street’s art galleries, such as the Pitch Project, and other businesses, said Sam Leichtling, Department of City Development longrange planning manager.
The street project has “a huge impact” on the neighborhood, said Ald. Jose Perez, whose district includes Walker’s Point.
“We’re going to see a lot more activity,” Perez said.