WisBusiness: Milwaukee Council Approves $29 million TIF package for Pabst Brewery site

By David Wise
WisBusiness.com

At its final meeting of the year, the Milwaukee Common Council unanimously
approved a $29 million TIF package today to aid in redevelopment of the
blighted Pabst Brewery complex that has sat vacant for ten years. The
mixed-use plan is to include housing, office and retail space and is being
billed by its aging developer, Joseph Zilber, as his legacy project.

Ald. Bob Bauman, a sponsor of the package, described the TIF as a joint
venture between the city and Zilber, and praised the developer for taking
on a project with substantial risk and a relatively low projected personal
return. “We’re doing business with a very solid and reliable partner … If
they can’t do this project, no one can do this project,” Bauman said.

A $41 million TIF package to redevelop the area into an entertainment
complex, sought by Wispark LLC and the Ferchill Group of Cleveland, Ohio,
was shot down by the council in 2005.

Zilber purchased the 21-acre complex in August from Wispark for $13.5
million.

Aldermen also approved an $8.5 million TIF to assist a $175 million
residential development along the Milwaukee river in the Park East area.
The site is being developed by the Mandel Group.