Project could eventually tie to Uihlein Soccer Park indoor facility – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A health care facility development is in the works for a site next to Uihlein Soccer Park, with the county-owned parcel to be sold for $500,000.
And that could be linked to an effort to eventually create an indoor sports facility at the soccer park.
Developer Doug Weas said he cannot yet identify the health care tenant for the project because a lease hasn’t been signed.
“It’s all very preliminary,” Weas told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The development would be on a portion of an 18-acre parcel at 7201 W. Good Hope Road.
Much of the land is not developable, Weas said, with part of it used as parking for Uihlein Soccer Park.
Weas said he’s working with the Milwaukee Kickers Soccer Club Inc., the nonprofit group which operates the soccer park, to continue providing some parking on the parcel.
“We’re excited about continued development in the area,” said Chelsea Metzger, Milwaukee Kickers director of marketing and corporate engagement, when contacted about the proposed project.
The project came to light through a new County Board resolution which calls for changing the county’s lease with the Milwaukee Kickers to remove its parking rights for the parcel.
A report attached to that resolution said the land is being sold for $500,000. Any sale would need approval from the board and County Executive David Crowley.
The parcel for 23 years housed Melody Top theater, which closed in 1986 and was destroyed by a fire in 1991.
The county acquired the land in 2002 for $118,000, according to city assessment records.
Meanwhile, the County Board in December 2019 voted to study possible public financing for a year-round sports facility at Uihlein Soccer Park, which is owned by Milwaukee County and leased to the Milwaukee Kickers.
A full-size indoor field would help the Kickers attract more tournaments by eliminating the risk of cancellations due to bad weather, and also provide a site for other sports, such as lacrosse, field hockey and rugby, according to a 2020 county study. The cost was then estimated at $3.1 million.
That project hasn’t proceeded.
However, the Kickers have “continued to pursue all avenues for development of the Indoor Sports Dome and this current offer to purchase the Melody Top parcel by a developer is the result,” the county report said.
Also, the resolution for changing the parcel’s lease terms says “the developer is working with the MKSC to assist them in realizing the construction of the Indoor Sports Facility.”
Metzger, of the Kickers, declined comment on the status of the proposed indoor sports facility.
Weas said he isn’t currently working with the Kickers on an indoor facility.
He added that such a project is a “possibility down the road but (the) economics are tough.”
The 69-acre Uihlein Soccer Park includes 16 full-size outdoor soccer fields and an indoor facility that contains three smaller indoor fields.
More than 600,000 people visit the soccer park annually, according to information the Kickers filed with the city Board of Zoning Appeals in February 2020.
The Milwaukee metropolitan area has approximately 15,700 children and 5,000 adults playing soccer, according to that city filing.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
THANK YOU: Subscribers’ support makes this work possible. Help us share the knowledge by buying a gift subscription.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more
Subscribe to get the BusinessWatch email newsletter.

source