MILWAUKEE – A WTMJ Exclusive: The City of Milwaukee is announcing a vendor for the under-construction Vel R. Phillips plaza, after an exhaustive search that included the original vendor backing out.
The operation, which is yet to be named, will operate seven days a week. The Department of City Development chose a proposal from Nathaniel Davauer of Draft & Vessel to open a food and beverage operation. The establishment’s core experience will focus on beer, burgers, and curds; additionally, Soup Brothers recipes will also return as a winter seasonal pop-up and swap in the summer for ice cream service.
“The Vel R. Phillips Plaza is poised to be an exciting addition to the growing and thriving Westown area off downtown Milwaukee,” DCD Commissioner Lafayette L. Crump said. “The Plaza showcases an extension of downtown’s positive economic and societal developments. I couldn’t be more pleased about bringing the expertise from a food and beverage leader in our region to the space.”
“It’s been exciting to watch the downtown Renaissance in Milwaukee. I can’t wait to be a part of the energy on Wisconsin Avenue,” Nathaniel Davauer of Draft & Vessel said. ”As a farm kid who would be lucky for a single trip to Grand Avenue in the ’80s, the opportunity to operate at Vel Phillips Plaza will be a full-circle experience. Considering the storied history of Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee, it’s even more significant to be a part of the streetscape’s future in this stunning building at the plaza.”
The lease is subject to approval by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee and is scheduled to be heard at their board meeting on May 16th, and by the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee. RACM will fund the buildout of the tenant improvements utilizing previously approved funds from Tax Incremental District 48 as part of the overall funding for the Vel R. Phillips Plaza.
The Plaza will be situated between North 5th Street and North Vel R. Phillips Avenue at 401 West Wisconsin Avenue. It will offer several public amenities, including a garden, an informational kiosk, a future Streetcar extension that will run through the Plaza, and a Milwaukee County Connect 1 East-West Bus Rapid Transit station.
The Plaza will also feature an original City-commissioned art installation in honor of Vel R. Phillips.
The City of Milwaukee has approved full funding for the Vel R. Phillips Plaza. Construction on the plaza began last summer and will open to the public this summer.
South of the plaza, a Request for Proposals remains active for the space just south of the plaza. The parcel sits on around 55,626 square feet of land.
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