The Milwaukee development company Urbane Concepts LLC and Shekinah Printing & Design Inc. are partnering to develop a new 12,000-square-foot, two-story mixed use building on a vacant lot at 2540-2556 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
The $2.1 million project, which will be named Monsanto Plaza, will have retail space on its first floor and apartments above, said Chris Johnson, project manager with Urbane Concepts.
Shekinah Printing & Design, which is currently located at 2317 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, will move into about 1,800 square feet of the retail space. A restaurant franchise is expected to use another 3,000 square feet of the first floor, leaving about 1,000 square feet for another use. The first floor of Monsanto Plaza will feature three commercial condominiums, Johnson said.
“Our focus is the fact that Luc (Monsanto, owner of Shekinah Printing & Design), he’s one of the many small businesses that would like to participate in the equity growth in this area,” Johnson said. “However, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for small businesses that need small offices. There are not a lot of small buildings (on King Drive). For a growing business that has a track record, there is an opportunity to participate in the equity in the growth of the street.”
By Eric Decker, Small Business Times
