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| | 1. | | Call to order.
Minutes note: Meeting called to order at 11:37 a.m. | | | |
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| | | | Individuals also present:
Minutes note: Dwayne Edwards, Dept. of City Development Real Estate
Terence Acquah, Dept. of City Development Commercial Corridor | | | |
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| | 3. | | Review and approval of the previous meeting minutes.
Minutes note: Meeting minutes from July 31, 2019 were approved without objection. | | | |
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| | 4. | | Update or review of Granville Development District projects, RFPs, listings, programs, initiatives, events, or activities.
Minutes note: a. Granville Connection
Individual appearing:
Mary Hoehne, Granville BID 48
Ms. Hoehne first announced the BID's Tasty Tuesday's on Tower events at 8103 W. Tower. The event will eventually come to the Granville Connection site.
Ms. Hoehne gave an overview. The Granville Connection will be an entrepreneur hub with a kitchen, 3 4 restaurants, a coffee shop, jazz performances, nail salon, hair salon, and 30 38 vendor spots for entrepreneurs. The project originated a year ago from 2 pop up stores. Inspiration of the project came from a similar entrepreneur hub site with restaurants in DeSota, Texas that was installed inside an Ace Hardware store. A priority is to help set up entrepreneurs for success by requiring them to go through various business training by the BID in the first year followed by scaling up their businesses in the second year. A goal is to create 4 5 real businesses to transition elsewhere out of the site to a permanent location preferably within the district. Complementing the Granville Connection will be the creation of a 1000 person capacity event center within the property strip mall that will be used for weddings and parties. Vendors from the Granville Connection can serve the event center in various aspects, and the event center can bring traffic to the Granville Connection. The building owner and the BID are financing the whole operation, and the BID may have to take out a loan. The building owner is really committing to the project and moving it along. Project timeline is unknown. There is anticipation that construction and remediation efforts (roof, floor, plumbing, kitchen, mechanical, landscaping, etc.) will begin after this November. Grand opening may be next fall. Pop up events will still occur at the site through November. She and vice chair Hill will go to visit and study the site in Desoto. The committee will be needed to provide feedback on final design and help with outreach to acquire entrepreneur vendors. Also needed is a professional artist to install a muras or sculptures for the interior. The hub should be multicultural and have a lively feel.
Members questioned a market plan, vendor selection process, operational hours, security of vendor booths, and use of student artists.
Ms. Hoehne replied. There will be a market study plan. There will be committees formed to determine vendors. The hub should be open 6 days and closed for 1 day. Vendor booths will be locked up when not in use. A professional artist is desired. Students would be welcomed to do art shows.
Mr. Acquah added that there will be many partners to provide technical support training to entrepreneurs.
Members commented. Gentrification should be a factor in the vendor selection process. The committee should be informed about the type of vendors desired. Reginald Baylor can be a possible artist.
Members discussed further after Ms. Hoehne had departed. Community input is important for buy in, and the community should be included in the vendor selection process. A market study, survey of the community, and market strategy should be done prior to construction. The art project should include student artists as a means to give them an opportunity for training and experience and to include community participation. Doing so may also lower artist costs. The parking lot needs to be better addressed by the owner of the strip mall site as it is in an unappealing state, and this concern will be further discussed with Ald. Lewis. The hope is for cooperation and to avoid taking adverse action via formal complaints to the City. Parking lots and landscaping for many sites within the district, in general, need to be in better shape as they serve as a first impression for businesses. Opportunities for the Granville Connection should be for the community first and then for people outside the community secondarily.
Member Fisher moved to recommend that the mural/sculpture art project for the interior of the Granville Connection be inclusive of students working with a professional artist. Vice chair Hill seconded. There was no objection.
Member Duckworth moved to recommend that there be community inclusion in the Granville Connection selection committees on vendors and for there to be customer surveys done, open houses, and other tools used to include community participation. Member Dotson seconded. There was no objection.
Member Fisher moved to recommend that all landscaping and parking lots within the Granville Development District be considered for better curb appeal with the Granville BID to assist in making them more attractive wherever possible. Vice chair Hill seconded. There was no objection.
b. Johnson's Park
Individual appearing:
Brandon Rule, Rule Enterprises LLC
Mr. Edwards said that his team is in the early stages of the project proposal from Mr. Rule for the site at 7350 N. 76th Street.
Mr. Rule gave an overview. The site is 10 acres and will be a multi phase development at the old go cart amusement center site. The first development will be for a skating and roller blading rink as an indoor entertainment venue. The second development is for workforce housing. A possible third development is for a Homage Hotel. The site is within an opportunity zone.
Members inquired about status of the projects, adherence to the charrette plan, project timelines, alternative plans for the entertainment development, and outreach with surrounding businesses.
Mr. Rule replied. Actual plans are still being developed and figured out for best fit and layout. Some things from the charrette will be incorporated while others, that are not practical to do, will not be incorporated. An application will be made to WHEDA for the housing project with an award possible for next spring, finance closing late 2020, construction in early 2021, and completion in 2022. The entertainment complex will entail financing in the next 3 4 months and possible construction in 6 months. A secondary idea for the entertainment complex is for an arts and sports complex. He has not engaged surrounding businesses but will do so as they are important to complement and bring traffic to his developments.
Members commented. They will want to see actual plans as the projects progressed further. The housing development should consider single father households and children aging out of foster care. There should be community engagement on the frontend. The entertainment development should not morph into an undesirable use, such as an exotic adult club, if the original idea fails.
Mr. Rule commented on his background. He is from Milwaukee and alumni of Riverside High School, Marquette University, and the ACRE program. He has experience in banking, affordable housing development, community investment, lending, and projects in Milwaukee and Washington DC. He will be creating a real estate asset management firm to assist developers who have limited resources and difficulty acquiring traditional financing means.
c. DCD Commercial Corridor grants
Mr. Acquah commented. There are no current projects applying for grants within the district. There will be the first ever BID and NID Week awareness event the week of September 9 14, 2019 with weeklong events and tours of districts. Events include an opening week ceremony and panel discussion at City Hall on September 9th, district tours on September 10th, a resource fair at Direct Supply on September 11th from 4 7 p.m., and an awards event at the Ambassador Hotel on September 12th. Further information about events is available online, and further information can be forwarded to members. The resource fair will have various workshops, free food, and vendors for free. Help is needed to find vendors. Some workshops include educating on scooter operation, use of social media for entrepreneurs in preparation for the DNC, and landscaping.
Chair Hinton inquired about the ability for the City to compile and provide an inventory of businesses and business sectors within the Granville Development District for the benefit of the committee. It would benefit the committee to define the district community, know its demographics, and trends. The district is economically diverse and not just an area of poverty.
Mr. Acquah replied. There is a program that can create a catalog and categorize businesses, and college student interns can be brought on to work on such an inventory. Members can refer to the area plan, which are in their possession, regarding demographics and trends for the district.
d. Other
There was no other discussion.
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| | 5. | | Review of the intent, role, responsibilities, and goals of the committee.
Minutes note: Chair Hinton said to revisit this item at the next meeting when Ald. Lewis can be present to provide clarity about the role of members going forward. | | | |
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| | 6. | | Review of the Granville Development District boundaries.
Minutes note: Mr. Lee said that there was suspicion that the district boundaries included portions of the City of Brown Deer and that the committee wanted to amend the boundaries to reflect only areas within the City of Milwaukee.
Chair Hinton inquired if a map of the district can be produced.
Mr. Acquah commented. The boundary of 108th Street should be 107th Street instead. He can assist with producing a map of the district boundaries.
Member Duckworth moved to amend the boundaries of the Granville Development District to reflect areas only within the jurisdiction of the City of Milwaukee as necessary. Vice-chair Hill seconded. There was no objection.
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| | 7. | | Review of the committee's survey and evaluation rubric.
Minutes note: Members discussed and reviewed the committee evaluation and rubric sheet. The sheet has fields that may not apply to every project and allows for a field to not be filled out if it is not applicable. All fields should remain, but the field of "Neighborhood Impact of Project" should be changed to "Impact on the Neighborhood" on page 3.
Mr. Edwards added, in response to inquiries from members, that the field of "Scope of Work - Appropriate for Project" would mean does renovation efforts adequately address remediation issues with a site, such as environmental issues. | | | |
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| | 8. | | Announcements.
Minutes note: There were no announcements. | | | |
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| | 9. | | Review of meeting frequency.
Minutes note: Mr. Lee said that it's the committee's discretion to decide on its meeting frequency.
Chair Hinton said for the committee to revisit this item at the next meeting once the committee has discussed and gained more clarity with Ald. Lewis on the expected role of members going forward. | | | |
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| | 10. | | Set next meeting date and time.
Minutes note: To be determined offline with staff. Avoid Mondays. Evenings may be best. | | | |
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| | 11. | | Agenda items for the next meeting.
Minutes note: To be determined. Agenda items to include review of the intent, role, responsiblities, and goals of the committee; review of meeting frequency, and public comments. | | | |
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| | 12. | | Adjournment.
Minutes note: Meeting adjourned at 1:07 p.m.
Chris Lee, Staff Assistant
Council Records Section
City Clerk's Office | | | |
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