A revised redevelopment plan for Midtown Center’s former Walmart has won city approval – without the originally proposed “computational research facility” that critics called a data center.
The Plan Commission’s July 20 decision concludes a monthslong debate over the long-vacant building’s redevelopment, which will feature a self-storage facility, the proposed relocated Capitol Branch Library, and space reserved for other community uses to be determined.
The self-storage facility will only be allowed after construction begins on affordable apartments in the former Walmart parking lot, and completion of a city lease for the library and other community space – which could include an early voting center.
The commission’s decision doesn’t need Common Council approval – although the lease will have a council review.
“I’m glad we are able to move forward on this reduced scope,” developer Trent Overhue told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after the meeting.
“I do think that the loss of the research facility is a big negative on bringing innovation and technology into that area,” Overhue said, “but after listening to the people, it makes sense just to be able to move forward with this.”
Renovations at the building, 5825 W. Hope Ave, could start by year’s end, Overhue said.
After fierce public pushback that tied the research facility to hyperscale data centers rising across southeastern Wisconsin, Overhue, who operates Council Bluffs, Iowa-based Affordable Family Storage, dropped it from the plan on July 6.
Overhue and city officials, including Alderman Mark Chambers Jr., whose district includes Midtown, and Development Commissioner Lafayette Crump, have consistently denied the facility could be characterized as a data center.
Data centers have been a target of widespread public criticism throughout Wisconsin, where hyperscale centers for Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle/OpenAI are under construction in Beaver Dam, Mount Pleasant, and Port Washington, respectively.
The Walmart site facility would have been significantly smaller than those other centers.
The Plan Commission’s decision comes two months after it was to consider the redevelopment proposal.
Chambers pulled it from the May 18 commission meeting’s agenda, opting to host three open houses to clarify what he called “a lot of misrepresentations of the project.”
The open houses quickly turned contentious as angry crowds criticized the research facility as a data center and accused Chambers of lacking transparency.
When the proposal reached the Plan Commission on June 29, the public hearing lasted seven hours with dozens of people testifying. Most opposed the research facility, citing potential impacts on energy demand, water use, and noise level.
Motions to conditionally approve the plan failed, and the commission voted to delay its decision.
The research facility was then dropped “for the sake of ensuring this project would move forward,” although that means less property tax revenue for the city, Crump said at the July 20 meeting.
The Plan Commission unanimously approved the revised proposal.
“The plan was amended to remove one of the most controversial parts of the plan,” commission Chair Stephanie Bloomingdale said after the meeting. “It’s important for us to have quality housing, affordable housing, and also the community aspects of this development are high points to look towards.”
Chambers said he welcomed feedback from Milwaukee residents. But he criticized some opponents for falsely claiming the computer facility would be an AI-driven data center.
“Misinformation should never be a foundation for public debate,” he said.
The redevelopment of the former Walmart, which closed in 2016, would be a “transformative investment” for Midtown Center, he said, activating the property and improving the neighborhood’s quality of life.
That includes a proposed 200-unit affordable apartment development, known as Midtown Commons, on the former Walmart’s parking lot.
The Plan Commission in April approved that proposal from developers Gorman & Co., One 5 Olive LLC, Wisconsin Preservation Fund Inc., and Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Inc.
Construction is to start this summer pending Common Council approval of a proposal from Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s administration to provide $3.95 million in city funds to help pay for the $61.1 million development. That cash would come from property tax revenue generated by Midtown Commons.
The Plan Commission’s meeting was to include a vote on a proposed zoning ordinance to define and strictly limit the size of Milwaukee data centers, but it was removed from the agenda last week.
(This article was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Library, self-storage set for former Walmart after data center dropped
Reporting by Jaeha Jang, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Jaeha Jang, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
