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About 100 community members joined developers and city officials Wednesday inside the long-vacant former Midtown Walmart at 5825 W. Hope Ave. in Milwaukee. Ald. Mark Chambers called the meeting to give residents a closer look at redevelopment plans for the site. Heavy humidity inside the building added to the tension as residents voiced opposition to parts of the proposal.
Supporters say the project offers a realistic path to redeveloping a property that has sat empty for a decade. Opponents argue the site should prioritize housing and community uses over storage and technology infrastructure. City officials say the commercial components cannot move forward unless affordable housing and green space are developed first.
As Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service previously reported, most of the 160,000-square-foot former Walmart is proposed to be a climate-controlled, self-service storage facility, with additional spaces in the front for a new location for the Capitol branch of the Milwaukee Public Library and other community space that could be used by the city of Milwaukee…