The Transformation of Walker's Point
“If you haven’t driven through Walker’s Point lately, you might want to do that and see what’s going,” says WTMJ Radio’s Gene Mueller. Mueller and co-host Jane Matenaer interviewed Jeramey Jannene Tuesday morning in response to his recent story for Urban Milwaukee, “Walker’s Point Boom Town.”The neighborhood was one of the original three settlements that came together to form the city of Milwaukee. Founded by George Walker, the neighborhood stretches from S. Cesar Chavez Dr. (16th St.) on the west to the inner harbor on the east, Greenfield Ave. on the south to the Milwaukee River on the north. As Jannene told TMJ, “If you look back at Milwaukee’s history, a lot of Milwaukee institutions, Allen-Bradley, Allis & Chalmers, P&H Kearney & Trecker, they all trace their origins back to Walker’s Point. It’s as much part of Milwaukee’s history as anything else.”The most important new development, Jannene noted, is the $46 million, Wangard mixed-use project at the northeast corner of S. 1st St. and E. Greenfield Ave., which will include a 46,280-square-foot Cermak Fresh Market grocery store, as well as an apartment building with 76 units, an office building and a handful of smaller commercial buildings.Who is all this development aimed at? “When you look at what’s being marketed, it’s all millennial-driven,” Jannene noted. And it’s likely to eventually redevelop the entire area between Bay View and the Third Ward.Listen to the full interview as recently aired on WTMJ's Radio 620 or check-out the full Urban Milwaukee article.