Mequon's Foxtown Brewing proposes a taproom, distillery and restaurant in downtown Milwaukee
Mequon-based Foxtown Brewing plans to build a taproom, distillery and restaurant in downtown Milwaukee.
The three-story, 28,000-square-foot development would be on a vacant site at the northeast corner of West St. Paul and North Plankinton avenues, along the Milwaukee River — adjacent to the proposed downtown dog park, according to the Wednesday announcement.
Slated to be named Foxtown Landing, it would feature the taproom, distillery and restaurant.
The development would include pet-friendly outdoor spaces overlooking the river, as well as a rooftop patio and balcony, according to a statement from Foxtown Brewing, an affiliate of pet food maker Fromm Nieman Brands.
Fromm Family Pet Food is to be the title sponsor of the future off-leash dog park, planned for a vacant site under I-794 between the Milwaukee River and Plankinton Avenue. The dog park and Foxtown Landing are to be tied together by a public river walk.
The planned development's time frame, and other details, are to be disclosed later.
“Milwaukee is rich in history, as is the Fromm brand and our family. When we learned about the dog park project, we began exploring the larger opportunity to develop a true ‘dog district’ where people and theirpets can gather along the river at the nexus of where the Historic Third Ward and downtown meet,” said Tom Nieman, president of Fromm Family Pet Food.
“With dog ownership rapidly increasing in recent years in the greater downtown area, we see this as a natural fit for us and a game changer for the city of Milwaukee," Nieman said, in statement.
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The Foxtown Landing development and river walk connections would be contingent on Fromm acquiring asmall city-owned parcel, at 406 N. Plankinton Ave., that is next to the main project site.
“Foxtown Landing is an exciting project proposal that would redevelop a long vacant site and help realize the future of downtown Milwaukee’s first dog park," said city Development Commissioner Lafayette Crump. "We look forward to this moving forward.”
Foxtown Landing, the public dog park and the river walk expansion would redevelop nearly 1.4 acres from St. Paul Avenue to West Clybourn Street.
Efforts to build downtown’s first dog park are being co-led by Matt Dorner, economic developmentdirector of Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District, and Paul Schwartz, executive director of the Milwaukee Public Market and Third Ward Business Improvement District.
“This is a generational opportunity to reinvent a long dormant, underutilized, but highly visible area ofdowntown into what will be a true destination that enhances downtown’s quality of life and bridges the gap between the Historic Third Ward and Westown neighborhoods,” Dorner said.
“This is a significant milestone for the project and certainly a bode of confidence from one of the country’s largest specialty pet food manufacturing companies,” Schwartz said.
Fromm this year celebrated its 9th annual Fromm Petfest at Henry Maier Festival Park.
The company also continues to develop a multi-phase mixed-use project in Mequon that includes Foxtown Brewing, 6411 W. Mequon Road, apartments and single-family homes.
The dog park plans, designed by Graef USA Inc., include separately fenced small and large dog areas, water stations, upgraded lighting and other pet amenities.
Scott Welsh, of Colliers commercial real estate brokerage, is representing Fromm in the purchase of the development site. Most of that is a privately owned parcel at 412-420 N. Plankinton Ave.
Welsh was an early supporter of the dog park efforts and saw the opportunity to complement the project by leading the pitch to Fromm ownership about the larger development vision.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Foxtown Brewing plans taproom, distillery, restaurant in Milwaukee
