Arena Construction - Make pitch for ASG in 22/23. pg 95

[MickeyDavis]

Here is the Minneapolis skyway system. It's awesome. Park your car and get all over the place without going back outside. That's what we need.

[MadBlueEdwards]

Here is the Minneapolis skyway system. It's awesome. Park your car and get all over the place without going back outside. That's what we need.

Wow. That's incredible.

If anyone from the Bucks is reading, please drop everything, march into Feigin's office, slam your fists onto his desk, and tell him we need everything he's building to be connected by skywalks. If you want people to hang out down there and spend money when it's freezing-ass cold outside, don't make them go out in the freezing-ass cold.

[0BobLobLaw0]

Peter feigin just said on 920 that ground breaking will be in spring.


I guess 2018 it is then.

[Stoltz3]

I'm fine with a delayed groundbreaking. Better to do it right than to rush it. All that matters is that it's being built and there's nothing that can stop it at this point.

[EastSideBucksFan]

Bucks & Play It Forward holding an arena celebration with closed off 4th St. and appearances by Oscar & Kareem.

http://www.jsonline.com/business/bucks-confirm-that-new-arena-will-not-open-until-2018-b99604755z1-337683521.html

Meanwhile, the Bucks, Milwaukee Tool and the Play it Forward Coalition are planning a community celebration of the new arena on Saturday, Nov. 7, on a blocked-off portion of N. 4th St. near W. Highland Ave., Suski said. The "Build the Future Community Tailgate" will include an outdoor big-screen broadcast of the University of Wisconsin-University of Maryland football game; live music, food and drink sold by Old World Third Street Association establishments, and appearances by former Bucks stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, Suski said.

The event will run from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., with the Bucks that night hosting the Brooklyn Nets at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Here is the Minneapolis skyway system. It's awesome. Park your car and get all over the place without going back outside. That's what we need.

Wow. That's incredible.

If anyone from the Bucks is reading, please drop everything, march into Feigin's office, slam your fists onto his desk, and tell him we need everything he's building to be connected by skywalks. If you want people to hang out down there and spend money when it's freezing-ass cold outside, don't make them go out in the freezing-ass cold.

How did Minne do that? Were all these building built at the same time or were they retro fitted. I think they could do a good job connecting it to the retail shops and apartments they are but I don't think there is much else that would make sense to connect them with. The theater/UWM Arena going south is pretty much it and there are too many individual buildings/the river going east to expand.

Yeah, it will help if this area is connected to auxiliary buildings, but the great thing about Minne is you can go miles without leaving the building. I don't see the big advantage if this really only connects people from their apartment/parking garage to the arena.

[0BobLobLaw0]

Aj bayauport reports the Bucks confirmed 2018-2019 will be the open to the new arena.

[mcfromage]

http://www.jsonline.com/business/bucks-confirm-that-new-arena-will-not-open-until-2018-b99604755z1-337683521.html

The planned new downtown arena for the Milwaukee Bucks will not be completed until the 2018-19 National Basketball Association season under the project's updated construction schedule, a spokesman for the team confirmed Tuesday.

The club had initially hoped to have the arena completed by the start of the 2017-18 season.

However, that schedule turned out not to be realistic, said Jake Suski, Bucks senior vice president of communications and broadcast.

Suski's comments came as the Bucks filed their plans for the arena, new parking structure and nearby commercial projects with the Department of City Development.

That filing outlined what already has been reported about the basketball team's long-term development plans for the Park East strip, and other downtown sites, as well as the arena and its affiliated facilities.

The proposal, which needs Common Council review, will have its initial hearing before the Plan Commission on Nov. 9, Suski said.

The later area opening date had been expected after Mike Fascitelli, a Bucks co-owner and leader of the development effort, said in September the team plans to start arena construction in spring 2016.

Suski said Tuesday that the arena groundbreaking would occur in 2016.

The basketball club found the design and zoning approval process to be "a little more onerous than we probably thought it would be," Bucks president Peter Feigin said at an Italian Community Center event Tuesday.

"We are starting the phase instantaneously of building a parking structure, demolishing a parking structure, building an arena, building a plaza and building a practice facility — all that should be completed in 24 to 36 months," Feigin said. "So we actually have three or four major construction projects happening instantaneously to get done."

Along with council zoning approval, the Bucks also must negotiate a lease with the Wisconsin Center District, the state-created agency that will own the arena.

Meanwhile, the Bucks, Milwaukee Tool and the Play it Forward Coalition are planning a community celebration of the new arena on Saturday, Nov. 7, on a blocked-off portion of N. 4th St. near W. Highland Ave., Suski said. The "Build the Future Community Tailgate" will include an outdoor big-screen broadcast of the University of Wisconsin-University of Maryland football game; live music, food and drink sold by Old World Third Street Association establishments, and appearances by former Bucks stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, Suski said.

The event will run from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., with the Bucks that night hosting the Brooklyn Nets at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

[MickeyDavis]

Well my hope and dream of only 2 more years of the BC is gone. I suppose if it was just an arena it may have been possible. But once we start seeing some progress next year the excitement will start building.

[HKPackFan]

Meanwhile, the Bucks, Milwaukee Tool and the Play it Forward Coalition are planning a community celebration of the new arena on Saturday, Nov. 7, on a blocked-off portion of N. 4th St. near W. Highland Ave., Suski said. The "Build the Future Community Tailgate" will include an outdoor big-screen broadcast of the University of Wisconsin-University of Maryland football game; live music, food and drink sold by Old World Third Street Association establishments, and appearances by former Bucks stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, Suski said.

The event will run from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., with the Bucks that night hosting the Brooklyn Nets at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Kareem? Back in Milwaukee?

[MickeyDavis]

Kareem has been back many times, I don't know if he's made an appearance with Oscar though, that will be very cool if they're there at the same time.

[Bucknado]

Well, gonna have to move the team. It was 2017 or bust.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

I actually like that the arena gets pushed back a year. I'm in the minority in that I don't mind the arena and it really doesn't effect my enjoyment as a fan. And I like the lower ticket price. Long term it pushes back the useful life of the stadium an extra year before we have build another stadium two decades from now. It gives us another year to plan and get it right instead of rushing it.

[RogerMurdock]

Now everyone has one extra year during which they need to try not to die.

[MickeyDavis]

The likelihood that the Milwaukee Admirals hockey team won't be part of the future Bucks arena was reinforced Friday during a board meeting of the public agency which will own that facility.

During a discussion of the 2016 budget for the Wisconsin Center District, which also owns downtown Milwaukee's convention center and other public venues, district Director of Finance and Accounting Jeff Sinkovec said there could be a future locker room project at the district's UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena "if the Admirals come over."

Sinkovec also mentioned the Admirals when discussing one of the district's largest projects scheduled for next year: kitchen and concession upgrades at the Panther Arena totaling an estimated $400,000.Those upgrades will bring a wider variety of food options for people attending arena events, including possible Admirals fans, Sinkovec told district board members. The board unanimously approved the budget, which also covers the Wisconsin Center and the Milwaukee Theatre."If (the Admirals) come over here, and we hope they do, that fan experience is on the top of their list," he said.Harris Turer, Admirals chief executive officer, wasn't immediately available for comment.

Turer said in June that he didn't believe the minor league team would be part of the future $500 million arena, which will be developed just north of the BMO Harris Bradley Center — current home to the Bucks and Admirals.
Turer said then he had started "very preliminary discussions" with district officials about a possible lease at the Panther Arena, where the Admirals would share dates with the UWM men's basketball team.

The Panther Arena, where the Admirals played for several years before the Bradley Center opened, is Milwaukee's only "true alternative" for the team, Turer said in June.The facility has ice-making machinery, but would need updates to its locker rooms and other changes to accommodate the team.

There has not yet been any official word from the Bucks about whether the new arena will include the Admirals.The new Bucks arena is to open by the 2018-'19 National Basketball Association season. After the new arena is completed, the Bucks will demolish the Bradley Center to make way for new commercial development.

The district and the basketball team are negotiating the arena lease. The district board on Friday received an update on those negotiations in a closed session, which is allowed under the state Public Meetings Law.

[BobbyLight]

I went the the Panther arena for the first time a few weeks ago (not sure why it took me so long, I guess I was just never interested in the events) and I was amazed at how comfortable the seats were and I loved the smaller feel of it. I think it would be great for a minor league hockey team that wasn't going to fill the BC anyhow

[MickeyDavis]

Exactly. The arena is a great place to watch a game. Obviously too small now for the Bucks but for the Ads it seems ideal. And while I doubt they would want to go head to head with the Bucks they could do some late afternoon Saturday games perhaps. Say 4:00 when the Bucks are playing at 7:30. Maybe offer a package deal for both games. Regardless I think watching hockey there would be great.

[Treebeard]

Here is the Minneapolis skyway system. It's awesome. Park your car and get all over the place without going back outside. That's what we need.

The Skyway is great - It was a real breakthrough idea when it was rolled out in the 60's. However it was a major and visionary commitment by the cities of Minneapolis and to a lesser extent St Paul to challenging the prevailing view of how downtowns function in the everybody-has-a-car era and for cold weather cities. Skyway's do alter the way buildings are accessed and the way people move around downtown. It's a really big deal to get off the ground though (no pun intended)

*edit* (IMHO) Visionary doesn't describe any member of our current Wisconsin political class - neither major party

[JimmyTheKid]

Here is the Minneapolis skyway system. It's awesome. Park your car and get all over the place without going back outside. That's what we need.

I never mind going to Minneapolis in the winter as I'm only ever outside for a couple few blocks. They have it all figured out.

[MickeyDavis]

An underused office building near the new Milwaukee Bucks arena has been sold to a group led by a developer who operates several New England residential properties.

The 108,671-square-foot, six-story Riverfront Plaza, at 1104 N. Old World Third St., has been sold for $7.5 million to Andover Portland Avenue Associates LLC, a Haverhill, Mass.-based group led by developer and investor King Weinstein, according to state real estate records posted Tuesday.

The seller was RFP Office LLC, led by local investor and developer David Florsheim.

Weinstein operates King Real Estate, which was established in 1978 and serves Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, according to its website. He wasn't immediately available for comment.

King Real Estate's website lists mainly residential properties for sale or rent, including single-family subdivisions, apartments and vacation rentals. It also lists several commercial properties.

Riverfront Plaza appears to be King's first Midwest property.

Riverfront Plaza's five floors of offices are above ground-floor retail space that includes Lucille’s Piano Bar & Grill and Ale Asylum Riverhouse. It has a 71% occupancy rate, according to Siegel-Gallagher, which brokered the sale.

The building is one block east of the BMO Harris Bradley Center, and future Bucks arena and entertainment center. Its sale continues a streak of recent property investments on N. Old World Third St. between W. State St. and W. Juneau Ave.

That includes new taverns and restaurants, as well as sales of two vacant lots to an investors group affiliated with the Bucks. Those empty lots will be converted into walk ways between N. Old World Third St. and the planned entertainment center, on N. 4th St. between W. Highland and W. Juneau avenues.