After years of sitting quiet, the old Bucyrus-Erie campus at 1100 Milwaukee Avenue is finally buzzing again as crews push ahead on a roughly $50 million redevelopment that aims to turn the site into housing and community space. The plan calls for more than a hundred apartments, including a sizable block of affordable units, along with a relocated Kelly Senior Center that officials expect to open in early 2027. City and county leaders toured the property this week, using the hard-hat photo op to signal that construction and public funding have moved the project into a new, serious phase.
Project details
According to WisPolitics, the redevelopment will create 134 housing units in total, with 76 of those set aside as affordable apartments, and includes a new Kelly Senior Center now targeted to open in early 2027. Developer Scott Crawford, Inc. is leading the work, planning to convert three former Bucyrus-Erie office buildings and construct a new multifamily building on the campus. Officials say the design is meant to walk a line between preserving the historic feel of the property and plugging a real need for more downtown housing.
Funding and timeline
As reported by Urban Milwaukee, Milwaukee County has put roughly $3 million into the deal, including $2.5 million in federal ARPA funds and $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant money to lock in affordable units and veteran set-asides. City grant documents and filings note the project also landed a $250,000 Idle Sites grant from the state. With private investment layered on top, officials say the total package places the redevelopment in the roughly $50–52 million range as construction keeps ramping up.
How the plan evolved
Plans for the Bucyrus campus have been tweaked more than once as developers, city planners, and county officials haggled over unit counts, parking, and historic preservation to make the numbers work. Earlier reporting by a $50 million mixed-use redevelopment and other outlets showed previous versions with different totals and mixes of market-rate and affordable apartments. Local leaders now describe the current blueprint as a middle-ground compromise that keeps the character of the old industrial site while still adding badly needed housing options a short walk from downtown.
Why it matters
“This investment will help further our vision of developing safe, quality, and affordable housing,” County Executive David Crowley said during a site visit, per WisPolitics. South Milwaukee Mayor James Shelenske, in city materials, cast the project as another piece of a broader downtown renaissance. County statements say moving the Kelly Senior Center into the Heritage building will open the door to more programming and gathering space for older adults. Taken together, city and county messaging frames the overhaul as both a south shore economic play and a community-building move…