A new Milwaukee venue featuring two performance spaces is being pitched at the former Bradley Center site next to Fiserv Forum, current Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) home, becoming the second new downtown venue to be unveiled in a week.
Madison’s FPC Live (Frank Productions) is proposing the new privately financed $50-million venue, which would features two performance spaces (one with a 4,000-person capacity, one with a 800-person capacity). If it follows other FPC Live facilities (like The Sylvee in Madison), the design will be utilitarian: stage on one end, bars and private spaces and bars opposite, with the middle an open space that be reconfigured based on usage. Only a third of the space would be dedicated to seating. Right now the total space is being envisioned as between 108,000 and 110,000 square feet. Design is from Milwaukee’s Eppstein Uhen Architects. Also in development near Fiserv Forum and the Deer District: a new hotel and potentially a new home for the Milwaukee Public Museum.
The land for the venue will be leased from the Milwaukee Bucks. About a third of the 5.7-acre site–approximately 1.6 acres–will be used for the new venue, leaving the rest available for future development.
The new venue would be located in the Westown area of downtown Milwaukee. Unveiled last week: A new Milwaukee soccer stadium is planned as part of a new sports/entertainment complex at one of the busiest areas of Wisconsin and will include an indoor concert venue, a full-service hotel, multi-family residential housing, retail, and food and beverage elements. This development is just seven or so blocks away from the proposed Bradley Center-area development, with both joining a bustling venue district that includes Fiserv Forum, Turner Hall, UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Wisconsin Center.
Rendering courtesy Eppstein Uhen Architects.
