A new plan for Milwaukee's downtown will build on a "major renaissance" in the area since the approval of the last version of the plan in 2010.
Jeramey Jannene provides an update on the process of creating a new Downtown Area Plan for Milwaukee—a process launched in March 2021 to update the previous plan, approved in 2010.
The Department of City Development is partnering with Milwaukee Downtown and the Business Improvement District #21 to create the Downtown Area Plan, now known as Connec+ing MKE 2040. Jannene's coverage of the story at the end of August shared news that Milwaukee-based P3 Development Group will manage equity and engagement in the process, and Milwaukee-based The Kubala Washatko Architects will provide urban design services, along with HNTB, American Design, Inc., and raSmith.
Jannene provides additional details about the contracts and funding necessary to complete the Downtown Area Plan, and also provides an update on the major projects proposed in previous iterations of the Downtown Area Plan.
"The 2010 plan called for eight catalytic projects, four of which have been implemented or are well underway," according to Jannene. "The city and partners have successfully created a streetcar system, reactivated W. Wisconsin Ave., improved the connection between Downtown and the Historic Third Ward along N. Broadway and strategized for the creation of a Lakefront Gateway district, once The Couture is completed, near E. Michigan St. and N. Lincoln Memorial Dr."
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