MILWAUKEE — Frank Productions said they will seek liquor and other licenses before breaking ground on its proposed entertainment facility near Summerfest.
According to our partners at the Milwaukee Business Journal, the project, which could cost up to $40 million, is still receiving opposition from residential neighbors.
“We will pursue the licenses and attain licenses before we begin construction,” Frank Productions CEO Joel Plant said in an interview Wednesday with the Milwaukee Business Journal.
The proposed facility still needs to win approval from the Milwaukee Common Council for liquor, entertinament and operating licenses, or else it won't be able to open.
According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, Ald. Bob Bauman says the licensing stage is the only point at which the Common Council will be able to vote on any aspect of the proposal from Madison-based Frank Productions and its operating company FPC Live.
The project has met current and proposed zoning. The Milwaukee Business Journal reports that the other approvals Frank Productions needs would not block the project: A design review from the Third Ward Architectural Review Board and an easement approval from the Board of Harbor Commissioners to designate a private road as a public street.
“There are many forces aligning against this project not least of which is the residents,” Bauman told the Business Journal on Wednesday. “Competing venues are gearing up a major opposition effort and many of these venues have long standing relationships with many council members.”
Tuesday night there was a second public information and feedback session at the Milwaukee Public Market. Neighbors told Plant and FPC Live executives that the project would damage the neighborhood with noise, traffic, on-street parking, and crime. The Milwaukee Business Journal said representatives of existing venues the Pabst Theater Group and The Rave/Eagles Ballroom have expressed strong opposition to the Frank Productions proposal, but were not at Tuesday's meeting.
The next licenses committee meetings are scheduled for Jan. 25 and March 8.
