Deer District concert venue announces new name

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The 4,500-seat venue opening in downtown Milwaukee in a few months now has a name.

Landmark Credit Union has been named the naming rights sponsor of the $70 million, 84,000-square-foot project led by Madison-based concert promoter Frank Productions, which broke ground in May 2024. The new venue is expected to open on the northwest corner of Vel R. Phillips Avenue and State Street in February 2026.

“It’s an exciting day for FPC Live, Live Nation and all of us at Landmark Credit Union,” said Jina Amaro-Burns, senior vice president of marketing at Landmark Credit Union, at a news conference on Wednesday. “On behalf of our entire team, I’m honored to officially welcome you to Milwaukee’s newest music venue, Landmark Credit Union Live.”

Neenah-based Miron Construction is the project general contractor and Milwaukee-based EUA provided architecture services.

“In just a few months, this venue will be filled with 4,500 fans all enjoying the power of live music together,” said Joel Plant, CEO of Frank Productions, at a news conference. “There are few opportunities as special as building something in your own backyard.”

The venue will feature a single-stage ballroom-style layout with a general admission pit, reserved seating and premium areas, said Joel Plant, CEO of Frank Productions.

In attendance were Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Alderman Robert Bauman and State Rep. Kalan Haywood, whose district represents the city.

“It’s important to reiterate that the building that’s the nucleus of everything happening in the Deer District is the Fiserv Forum,” Johnson said. “If it were not for the state of Wisconsin stepping up and being our partner in construction and funding of that, we would not be here today.”

In July, Live Nation Entertainment announced it would invest $1 billion to build 18 new and revitalized live music venues in smaller American cities. Milwaukee was one of the cities slated for a new venue.
The investment is expected to spur $2.9 billion in total economic impact, Live Nation officials said, citing Oxford Economics.

The venue is expected to create $10 million in economic impact in Milwaukee and the metropolitan region each year, Plant said in a previous interview, citing an analysis between FPC Live and VISIT Milwaukee.

The venue is expected to hold more than 130 events each year, project officials said. Vertical construction started in October 2024, and the project saw at least one budget increase since its original pitch in 2022, where FPC Live officials cited aggressive construction costs.

FPC Live is working with both Miron and Milwaukee-based JCP Construction. In 2022, the promoter signed a project labor agreement, which ensures 100% union labor, including 25% of construction labor hours allocated to Milwaukee County residents.

In 2022, FPC Live proposed its initial project and was approved by the city with some pushback from local venue owners. The first project, planned to be two venues with 4,000 and 800 seats respectively, was shelved due to interest rates and construction costs, officials said. The final project was approved for a second time in 2023.