Milwaukee could land skate park, street improvements near Michels development

Milwaukee officials could land its first official skate park and street improvements in the Lincoln Hills neighborhood, after a committee on Tuesday approved a $2.85 million plan to use property taxes from Michel Corporation‘s R1VER development.

The Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee, driven by Common Council members, voted unanimously to amend a tax increment district attached to the Michels development. The amendment project includes a skate park on South 5th Street and West Rogers Street, improvements to the streets nearby and community painting of pillars at nearby Interstate 94.

Alderman José Pérez led the effort to provide $1 million from that spending plan to build the skate park, according to Alyssa Remington, a member of the Department of City Development. Remington noted that the city will seek community input for the design process.

Alderman Pérez, the Common Council president, said the development was a long time coming. “You don’t get a $100 million investment in a neighborhood very often… This will be a different neighborhood people are driving into,” Perez added.

The park would be built over an existing city-owned parking lot, Remington said. MKE Plays, a city-led playground building initiative, intends to partner with the nonprofit The Skatepark Project, founded by skateboarding superstar Tony Hawk, she added.

The Common Council will decide whether to approve the amendment on Jan. 17, according to an agenda.

As of 2022, Tax Incremental District No. 94 had an incremental value of $148 million through business operations, Remington said. Since its creation in 2018, the district provided $6.3 million for riverwalk development, infrastructure improvements and environmental remediation.

A subsidiary Michels Corporation owns R1VER, a $100 million mixed-use development including an eight-story office building and four-story apartment complex in the south side of Milwaukee.