Dive Brief:
- Milwaukee Bucks owners have submitted their $1 billion development plan to the city for review as the next step for the six-story, $500 million arena project and surrounding land development on 25 acres in downtown Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Business Journal reported.
- Over the next 10 years, the Bucks plan to develop offices, apartments, restaurants, retail space, a hotel, a grocery store and parking decks in the area around the arena. There is also the possibility that the site will include a skywalk connecting the arena and parking.
- A 50-50 split of private and public money will fund the arena construction and ancillary development, and city officials hope the project will spur additional growth in downtown Milwaukee.
Dive Insight:
The city must approve the plans before the Bucks can replace an area sewer, the first construction work of the project. Setup of a staging area and demolition of existing buildings on the arena site will follow, and then the building of the arena and parking structure can begin. While the arena complex is under construction, work on a nearby entertainment block will also start.
The Bucks will be the primary developer for the project but will also hire other developers on a per-project basis, the Journal reported. Although Bucks officials initially planned for the arena to be ready for the 2017 NBA season, they announced Tuesday construction — set to begin in spring 2016 — won't be completed until 2018. The team's current arena, the BMO Harris Bradley Center, will be demolished shortly after.
Bucks president Peter Feigin said the one-year delay in the arena opening was due to the zoning and design process, which was "a little more onerous than we probably thought it would be."
Aside from the jobs the Bucks' new sports arena will create for local contractors and laborers, the team and its players will continue paying more than $6.5 million in taxes to the state each year, The Washington Post reported.