Plans for a 19,000-square-foot data computing facility have been pulled from a larger redevelopment of the former Walmart site at Midtown Center on Milwaukee’s northwest side, following opposition from area residents. Alderman Mark Chambers announced the change Monday, according to BizTimes Milwaukee.
The reversal follows a seven-hour Plan Commission hearing last week, during which hundreds of residents raised objections to the facility in person, virtually and in writing, BizTimes reported.
The Walmart at 5825 W. Hope Ave. has sat empty since 2016. As originally proposed, the redevelopment combined three uses including 200 units of affordable housing on the former parking lot, a new Milwaukee Public Library branch, and self-storage paired with a data processing and computer research facility to be operated by AFS Milwaukee LLC.
Residents’ concerns centered on the data facility’s potential effects on air, water and noise quality, along with its water and energy draw. Several also asked whether the site would better serve the neighborhood with a different kind of development altogether.
Trent Overhue, the Springfield, Missouri-based owner of AFS Milwaukee LLC, told the commission the facility would use minimal water daily, cap utility demand at 10 megawatts, had undergone a completed noise study and would not discharge into local water sources.
Despite those assurances, the proposal was withdrawn, Chambers said, “after extensive discussions with the property owner, developer and city staff,” BizTimes reported.
With the computing facility removed, the project now moves forward with housing, the library branch and storage units.
