Plans for R1ver development near Kinnickinnick River unveiled

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – It’s been almost three years since the Horny Goat Brewery closed its doors. Since then, the site in Milwaukee’s harbor district has stood empty but a Wisconsin construction company is announcing plans for a huge development.

The old brew pub used to be near the Kinnickinnick River, but the Michels Corporation of Brownsville, Wisconsin has something much bigger in mind. The project is called R1ver.

The plans right now call for not one but three office buildings on the site. They plan to have a hotel complex, spaces for restaurants, a river walk and the places to live. The idea is to attract young professionals close to downtown Milwaukee. They also point out that this would be only ten minutes from Foxconn.

One of the attractions mentioned prominently was the plan to include 1,000 underground parking spaces.

“What we hear ist he office space in downtown Milwaukee has some parking challenges. That will not happen here. And with the weather that we have in Milwaukee throughout the year, to have underground parking will be very attractive,” said David Stegeman with the Michels Corporation. “So we sit down and we meet and he tells me about the plans over here and he says ‘this is just one site of a number of possible sites where we can go’ and ‘what do you think? Is this something that could work here?’ And it took me like maybe half a second to say yes! With an exclamation point, yes!”

Michels Construction will have offices in the new building. David Stegeman says construction on the first phase of the project is expected to start later in 2018.