A historic industrial building on Milwaukee’s south side is seeking city permission to add new uses, including offices and art studios.
The four-story, 36,859-square-foot building, 2156 S. Fourth St., already has one non-industrial use: an Ebenezer Child Care Center that received city approvals in 2024 and 2025.
Ebenezer operates on two and one-half floors of the building. It opened in November after renovations to space last used by St. Anthony Middle School.
Building owner East Lincoln Avenue LLC, an affiliate of Druml Co., now wants the Common Council to rezone the building from industrial heavy to industrial mixed.
That would allow the building to attract such potential tenants as office users, non-profit groups, schools, dance and art studios, and community centers, according to Druml Co.’s proposal.
That’s to be reviewed by the Plan Commission at its April 27 meeting.
Other neighborhood improvements include the revitalized Lincoln Playfield, a city-owned park at 300 W. Lincoln Ave., and a new RiverWalk adjacent to Lincoln Field along the Kinnickinnic River.
Another RiverWalk is to be built long the river’s west bank extending south from West Becher Street. It would connect to the Lincoln Field walkway.
Also nearby is the River 1 development, a mix of offices, apartments, and retail north of West Becher Street and west of South First Street.
The Fourth Street building was constructed in 1910 for Independent Electric Manufacturing Co., according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Bluesky, X and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Historic south side industrial building seeks offices, studios, other uses
Reporting by Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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