Delayed project at former brewery winds down
A long-delayed apartment development at downtown Milwaukee’s former Pabst Brewing Co. complex is finally winding down — much to the relief of businesses affected by its street closing.
That was the word Wednesday from the Common Council’s Public Works Committee, which voted to not renew a street closing permit connected to the project.
The former Pabst brewery’s malt house and grain warehouse, 1009 W. Juneau Ave., is being converted into 118 apartments known as Brewery Lofts.
An affiliate of New York-based Whitestone Realty Capital LLC bought the buildings in January 2016 for $1.6 million. The city building permit allowing renovations to begin was issued in December 2016.
However, that work stopped in June 2017 and didn’t resume for several months after construction costs spiked.
Whitestone hired a new general contractor and made changes to the renovation plans. But work has proceeded slowly, and the development’s ownership group has changed.
Meanwhile, the eastbound portion of the 1000 block of West Juneau Avenue has been closed to accommodate the project.
That long street closure has affected other businesses on the block, which ends at I-43, said Michael Kelly, principal at Blue Ribbon Management LLC, which operates nearby buildings.
The businesses hurt by the street closure include the Captain Pabst Pilot House, the new name for Pabst Brewing’s brewery and taproom, 1037 W. Juneau Ave.
“Nobody even knows it’s open,” said Ald. Robert Bauman, committee chair.
Pabst Brewing, which shut down its Milwaukee operations in 1996, returned in May 2017 when its new owners opened the brewery and taproom. The former brewery complex is now known as The Brewery, a collection of apartments, offices, restaurants, hotels and other developments.
The new Pabst operation at The Brewery initially included a restaurant. But it stopped serving food in January 2018, with the business also cutting its hours to evenings only.