OUR MISSION

Save MKE’s Music Scene, LLC, was created to support Milwaukee’s historic independent music venues and oppose the proposed Live Nation / Ticketmaster sponsored development which threatens the viability of Milwauke’s robust live music industry.

YOU CAN HELP

Call and/or write your Milwaukee Alderperson:
Use our form to contact your Alderperson.

Stop Corporate Welfare

Documents: Concert Promoter Giant Live Nation’s Subsidiaries Weren’t Eligible for Millions of Dollars in COVID Grants

[Wisconsin Daily Star]

Subsidiaries of behemoth concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment received $20 million in federal COVID grants that they were not entitled to, according to The Wisconsin Daily Star’s review of documents.

Madison-based Frank Productions Concerts, LLC and National Shows 2, LLC of Delaware, each received $10 million from the Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venues Operator Grant (SVOG) program — funding that was clearly marked for independent operators, not subsidiaries of publicly traded companies.

Congressional sources tell The Daily Star there is interest in clawing back billions of dollars in COVID program funds that were improperly disbursed.

A Wisconsin lawmaker said Frank Productions again appears to be benefitting from taxpayers at the expense of independent entertainment operators.

[read full story]

Stop Corporate Welfare

New Live Nation, Bucks, Facility Has Received Over $60,000,000.00 in Gifts and Subsidies

Bradley Center Land Gift to Bucks

• 316,389 Sq Ft or 7.26 Acres
• 77- Space Parking Structure on 6^th and Highland

Cost to Bucks $1 For Which Bucks Received

• $20,000,000.00 Amount State Paid for Bradley Center Land and Repairs to Bradley Center during Fiserv Forum Construction
• $24,466,200.00 Value of 7.26 Acres of Land given to the Bucks for $1 without open bidding
  • 26 Acres @ 3,370,000.00 per acre (Price of land for New Museum)

• $23,462,360.00 Value of Parking Lot Gift to Bucks without open bidding
  • 776 Parking Spaces at $30,235.00 Per Stall Estimate
  • Sample Cost of New Parking Structure north of Fiserv Forum (1250 Parking Spaces) $47,000,000.00 or $37,600.00 Per Stall

• $6,000.000.00 Reported cost for tearing down Bradley Center paid for by Bucks

Over $60,000,000.00 of gifts and subsidies that Bucks received for the purpose of building a convention hotel to support the $500,000,000.00 investment in the new Convention Center. Instead of a Convention Hotel, The Bucks are trying to use this $60,000,000.00 in gifts and subsidies to leverage a 40% stake in new Live Nation/FPC Live Entertainment Facility.

Because there are no attractions that do not already play Milwaukee, this facility will just cannibalize shows from Milwaukee’s current Historic Entertainment Facilities causing them to become economically unviable, creating no new economic impact for the City of Milwaukee.

Bucks Promised A Hotel And Housing – Not Two Concert Venues

Milwaukee Business Journal (6/2/15) – The Milwaukee Bucks owners would buy almost 10 acres of public land in the Park East for $1 for an envisioned $400 million in development surrounding a new arena over more than 10 years.

The owners envision 1.5 million square feet of residential, office, parking, retail and other new development on four city blocks. It includes redeveloping the site occupied by the BMO Harris Bradley Center with a 300-room hotel and housing.

Overall, the project will cover 24 acres of downtown, including the Park East land between West Juneau and West McKinley avenues, a site to the south where the arena would be built, and property where the BMO Harris Bradley Center currently stands.

“The entire proposal focuses on ways to activate the street, increase pedestrian access and consciously engage visitors, regardless of the time of day,” according to a report to the Milwaukee County Board. “Such a plan requires a great deal of thought and deliberate preparation, not simply from an architectural perspective, but from the standpoint of tenant mix.”

The majority owners of the Bucks formed a group called Head of the Herd LLC to buy the Park East land for development surrounding the arena. Head of the Herd would join with local developers in joint ventures for different segments of the project, according to the June 1 report to the Milwaukee County Board.

The board, which will review the plan, scheduled a June 9 public hearing to discuss details.

The land price would be set at $1 because of the high cost of preparing the land for development, which includes dealing with underground sewers and piers from the now-demolished Park East Freeway spur. The Bucks also would commit to local hiring requirements for the Park East projects.

The team has broken its development into phases. The first phase of the project would begin this year and last into 2017 and cover the blocks west of North Fifth Street. It also includes the land where the $500 million Bucks arena would be developed.

Plans for the westernmost block include an NBA practice facility for the Milwaukee Bucks, 30,000 square feet of office space and a public art plaza along McKinley Avenue. The adjacent block between Sixth and Fifth streets would have a 1,243-space parking structure, 10,000 square feet of retail, 98 market-rate apartments and 30,000 square feet of office space.

A second phase would last from 2018 to 2022, and includes demolition of the BMO Harris Bradley Center and a neighboring, city-owned parking structure. During that time, two blocks of the Park East between Fifth and Old World Third streets would be parking lots for the arena.

In place of the Bradley Center would stand a 300-room hotel, parking deck, retail and office space, and apartments, including student housing. That phase is predicted to last to 2022.

The final phase, lasting until 2027, covers the final two blocks of the Park East that would be used for parking. On the block along Old World Third Street would be 215 market-rate apartments and luxury condominiums, 100,000 square feet of office space, 16,000 square feet of retail, a 237-space parking structure and 37,000-square-foot outdoor plaza.

Between Fourth and Fifth streets would be a 70,000-square-foot grocery store, 183-space parking structure and 183 market-rate apartments.

The proposal would break up the long block between Fourth and Sixth streets by extending Fifth Street through its center. Sidewalks would be widened to create outdoor patio areas for the retailers. The parking structures would have first-floor retail space to make them more pedestrian friendly.

Other public space amenities include the large public plaza at McKinley and Fifth Street on land that, due to underground sewer infrastructure, cannot be developed into any large structures. The parking structure in the center of the corridor would have a rooftop green courtyard.

The owners predict the Park East developments would create $5 million in annual property taxes and 3,700 jobs, including 2,720 in the construction phases, 700 office jobs and 100 in the grocery store. Milwaukee County residents would work 20 to 25 percent of the hours on the construction projects.