Peter Feigin, Bucks president and partner in Deer District development, leaves the team

Peter Feigin, president of the Milwaukee Bucks and integral figure behind the construction of the Fiserv Forum, will leave his position after 12 years, the team announced in early January.

Feigin will move from his role after leading a “renaissance” of the Bucks organization and helping facilitate the creation of Fiserv Forum and the Deer District, officials said. He joined the team in 2014 and saw it through the 2021 NBA championship.

Josh Glessing, who served as chief of strategy and development at Haslam Sports Group, will take over as Bucks president and will oversee team business operations, officials said. The transition will happen over the coming months and Glessing will work closely with Feigin in the meantime, they added.

“Serving as president of the Milwaukee Bucks has been the honor of my professional life,” Feigin said in a statement. “Together with our ownership group, partners, players and an incredible staff, we built something truly special for this city and state. I am incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished and confident that the organization is in tremendous shape.”

Feigin was one of the partners who helped develop the Fiserv Forum, the $500 million, 700,000-square-foot, 17,000-seat arena in downtown Milwaukee. He worked alongside partners including former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele.

“We worked together to redevelop the vacant Park East corridor, built the new Bucks arena and created a booming entertainment district for our city,” Barrett said in a statement. “His leadership then and now was on full display: a tireless, engaged, people person. He cares about people—be it those doing the hard jobs in the arena or those sitting courtside.”

The arena was completed by Mortenson in 2018 and the following Deer District saw a boom in adjacent developments including hotels, offices and hospitality uses. These projects, such as the arena itself, have been shaped by agreements with union labor.

“Our two councils very much appreciate (Feigin’s) unwavering commitment to the working men and women of our area,” said Pam Fendt, president of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, and Dan Bukiewicz, president of the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council, in a joint statement. More than 10,000 union jobs were created in building Fiserv Forum alone, they added.

Glessing led HSG’s investment in the Bucks in 2023, team officials said. He worked at Goldman Sachs in its global sports and entertainment investment banking practice and worked with Bucks ownership in financing the Fiserv Forum, officials added.

“I am grateful to HSG and the Bucks ownership group for entrusting me with this extraordinary opportunity,” Glessing said in a statement. “I was born a Bucks fan, and I don’t need to learn what this team means to Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin. I have known it my entire life. The Bucks have an exceptional foundation, and I look forward to continuing to build on our success while staying true to our commitment to winning, providing best-in-class experiences for our fans, and delivering meaningful impact for the community.”