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Downtown Employee Appreciation Week is in full swing! Be sure to get out and join your fellow downtown workers at the variety of morning, lunch and evening events happening now through Friday, July 29. More information can be found in the Featured Event section of this edition of Real Results.
We also sat down with Westown Association Executive Director, Stacie Callies to talk about all the great projects underway in Westown. Get Callies' take on the continued growth of downtown in this edition of Real Results. Speaking of Westown, we are highlighting two requests for proposals that are currently open for exciting projects and will have a direct positive impact on West Wisconsin Avenue.
Well, the
Downtown Milwaukee Market Profile is updated, and we are pleased to see that on all major key indicators, the downtown area is trending in a positive direction and the momentum of new projects continues to propel the entire city and region forward! See more in the By The Numbers section.
We also highlight a comprehensive online tool launched by Visit Milwaukee called the MKE ToolKit, a one-stop-shop of information, photos, statistics, maps and more for stakeholders to use in "selling Milwaukee" to their targeted audiences. No need to reinvent the wheel when Visit Milwaukee is providing this great tool for us all to use!
As always, thanks for reading!
Matt Dorner
Economic Development Director
Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21
Follow us on Twitter
@RealResultsMKE
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The Westown neighborhood is anchored by the West Wisconsin Avenue corridor, which is blossoming from the string of recently completed and new projects. More than 550 residential units have been added or are under construction, over 500,000 sq. ft. of obsolete office space has been repurposed to vibrant uses, the SpringHill Suites recently opened, and the Shops of Grand Avenue reinvention plans are gaining momentum. In addition, the neighborhood is home to some of downtown's signature events like the Westown Farmer's Market, River Rhythms, and NEWaukee's Night Market. All of these investments, events and planned projects continue to build and propel the city forward.
Leveraging this momentum, two new Requests for Proposals for projects along the West Wisconsin Avenue Corridor are currently open for submittals.
First, the city of Milwaukee has issued a
Request for Proposals for an unprecedented transit-oriented development opportunity. The approximately 2-acre parcel at 4th Street and Wisconsin Avenue is located on both the proposed Milwaukee Streetcar route and Bus Rapid Transit line. This high visibility site is situated across the street from the Wisconsin Center, blocks from the Marquette University campus and centrally-located among several other significant redevelopment efforts. Development concepts should capitalize on this unique site and help continue the momentum in downtown Milwaukee. Proposals will be accepted beginning September 30, 2016. Click
here for detailed information.
In addition, Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee Development Corporation, LLC (WAM DC), Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21, the Westown Association and its partners have issued a
Request for Proposals for a creative and unique lighting installation on West Wisconsin Avenue that targets the public realm from the Milwaukee River to North 6th Street. The project is partly inspired from the positive experiences of temporary lighting installations for the Holiday Lights Festival as well as the NEWaukee Night Market. The goal of installing decorative permanent lighting is to enhance the Avenue's sense of place and create positive experiences for residents and visitors alike. The deadline for submission is August 15, 2016. Review the details
here!
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VISIT Milwaukee recently launched the comprehensive online
MKE Toolkit
, which provides key resources to all companies, organizations and educational institutions for their varying marketing activities. The MKE toolkit provides a one-stop-shop of information to use in "selling Milwaukee" for the purposes of business and talent recruitment and retention, marketing strategies and corporate conference planning.
The toolkit includes downloadable resources related to Milwaukee fast facts and city statistics, prepared "elevator speeches", headlines, maps and guides, a city-wide event calendar, video and photography, suggested itineraries, and more ways for visitors and residents to engage with Milwaukee's great neighborhoods and communities.
According to VISIT Milwaukee President & CEO Paul Upchurch, "The Greater Milwaukee area is a vibrant region that combines major amenities like dining, nightlife, arts and natural beauty. Easy, affordable and fun, Milwaukee is a great place to live and work. This toolkit provides everything needed to show off our community as a great destination, which contributes to the bottom line of local businesses."
It's time to help pitch Milwaukee as a premier destination, and this new tool from Visit Milwaukee provides all the resources in one easy-to-use location! Access the MKE ToolKit
here
.
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EVENT SPOTLIGHT -
DOWNTOWN EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION WEEK
Now thru Fri, July 29
Downtown Milwaukee
The perks of working downtown, and we know there are plenty, are about to get even better! Downtown Employee Appreciation Week is back in its eleventh year to reward downtown Milwaukee's dedicated workforce of more than 83,000 employees with a week full of activities. Join the fanfare and camaraderie, today and for the rest of the week through Friday, July 29.
Did we mention lunch is on us this week? Thanks to our generous downtown business community, the first 1,000 downtown employees in line will receive free lunch giveaways. In addition to daily giveaways, enjoy Office Challenge Games presented by Refuge Cafe, the World's Largest Coffee Break, Downtown's Fitness Frenzy, the Grandest Happy Hour, employee discounts at downtown businesses and much, much more. So round up your coworkers and join us for your next assignment! For park locations, event details and more, visit milwaukeedowntown.com/iworkdowntown.
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Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21 recently updated its downtown market profile, and we must say we like what we see! On all major key indicators, the downtown area is trending in a positive direction and the momentum of new projects continues to propel the entire city and region forward.
For the full 2016 Market Profile, click
here and in the meantime, read a few key metrics below:
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STAKEHOLDERS SPOTLIGHT -
STACIE CALLIES
Executive Director, Westown Association, BID #5
Stacie Callies is the leader of the Westown Association and strives to continue increasing social and economic development in the area.
What are Westown Association's mission and goals for the neighborhood?
The Westown Association is a downtown Milwaukee business association funded by a small business improvement district, as well as membership dues, sponsorship and other program revenue. The organization has two full time staff people and a very dedicated volunteer board of directors. The associations' boundaries are the Milwaukee River to the east, I-43 to the west, McKinley Avenue to the north and the Menomonee River to the south. The organization champions social and economic development of the Westown neighborhood through special event marketing, business resources, growth initiatives and public/private partnerships that improve the quality of life and vitality of the district. The organization partners on and produces events such as the Shamrock Club of Wisconsin St. Patrick's Day Parade, River Rhythms, farmer's market and MKE Oktoberfest that bring thousands of people to downtown each year.
What does the Westown Association have on tap for summer, and what other happenings are you excited about?
Westown Wednesdays are in full swing and continue with the Westown Farmer's Market from 10 am to 2 pm in Zeidler Union Square through the end of October, where you can find over 10 lunch vendors, as well as a variety of Wisconsin-grown produce, prepared food and handmade art. The River Rhythms concert series runs Wednesday evenings in Pere Marquette Park from 6:30 to 9 pm and is a great place to meet friends or coworkers after work and listen to a very diverse musical lineup in one of downtown's coolest public spaces on the Milwaukee River.
Westown is also working to raise funds to restore the Court of Honor monuments in the boulevard on West Wisconsin Avenue near Central Library that date back to the late 1800's. The George Washington monument was recently removed for off-site restoration in mid-July. Many downtown stakeholders and others supportive of historic preservation and public art have contributed to the project over the past three years. To raise additional dollars for the project, the Riverfront Loft Condos are holding an event with InTandem Theatre called Five after 5 on Monday, August 1 from 5 to 8 pm. Five condos will feature a sneak peek of InTandem's upcoming season along with food and drink from downtown businesses.
You can find more information about the Court of Honor restoration project and how to register for the Five after 5 event here: http://www.westown.org/courtofhonor/
How is the revitalization of West Wisconsin Avenue important to the larger renaissance underway in downtown Milwaukee?
The perception of West Wisconsin Avenue and Westown have always been intertwined, so the current momentum on the Avenue is exciting but also critical to the continued prosperity of all of downtown. From the new ownership's plans for Grand Avenue, Marquette's Athletic Performance Research Center, the current RFP for development of the Fourth and Wisconsin surface lot, Newaukee's Night Markets, the extension of the streetcar and bus rapid transit proposal, there's a lot of excitement around the future of West Wisconsin right now.
What other projects are key to keep the positive downtown momentum going?
The new arena project was definitely a homerun for the city, but having a modern and expanded convention center will be an important priority moving forward. The development of the Fourth and Wisconsin surface lot into a demand-generating private development that integrates transit and public space is also critical.
What do you see as Milwaukee's biggest challenge?
The development activity downtown is exciting and very important for the city's tax base, but I'm excited to be a part of conversations on how this prosperity can be leveraged in other parts of the city. The directors of the City's 30+ business improvement districts have a long history of collaboration and sharing information, but there are also larger conversations about this going on as a part of the MKE United initiative of which I'm excited to participate in, and it will involve more public and stakeholder input over the course of the next year.
What peer cities do you believe offer the best qualities for Milwaukee to learn from?
I enjoy visiting peer cities to see how they are evolving in comparison to Milwaukee and will be checking out Kansas City later this summer to ride their new streetcar system. There are cities that have similar walkability challenges like Milwaukee due to their spread out layout such as Portland, Oregon. Portland dealt with this challenge early on by implementing and investing in a significant public transportation system to make it easier to get around. It will be exciting to see how the streetcar and proposed bus rapid transit will impact the connectivity of the different areas of downtown Milwaukee as well as the neighborhoods moving forward. A city like Indianapolis shows how important investing in a modern, expanded convention center is to the economic health of their downtown area. On the flip side, the growth in Milwaukee's downtown residential density is outpacing many of our peer cities, which is definitely changing the dynamic of downtown in the evening and on weekends.
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