24-02-2025
Iron District soccer stadium project moves forward. Developer hopes for summer construction start
A downtown Milwaukee development proposal centered on a minor league soccer stadium has taken a step forward − which could lead to a summer construction start.
The 7-acre Iron District site, 803 W. Michigan St., has been sold to MDC Iron District LLC, an affiliate of Milwaukee Development Corp.
The latter is a nonprofit subsidiary of Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce and promotes local development projects.
The sale price was $9.3 million, according to a deed posted online Monday by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
The sale is tied to Milwaukee Development's role in accepting a $9.3 million grant to help finance the 8,000-seat stadium, said S.R. Mills, CEO of Kenosha-based Bear Development LLC.
A Bear Development affiliate, West Michigan Investments LLC, sold the site. Its assessed value is $7.5 million, according to city records.
The grant was provided through federal American Rescue Plan Act cash distributed to Wisconsin by the Biden administration. It was announced in November 2023 by Gov. Tony Evers.
The land sale is an incremental step forward in completing the financing package for the Iron District, Mills told the Journal Sentinel. The developers hope to begin construction in early summer, he said.
Milwaukee Pro Soccer, owned by Grafton business operator James Kacmarcik, is working with Bear Development to create the Iron District.
The stadium would house a minor league USL Championship team. It would be built next to a hotel on the site.
Bear Development in 2024 opened Michigan Street Commons, an affordable apartment community, on the Iron District site's western portion at 915 W. Michigan St.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@ and followed on Instagram, Bluesky, X and article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's Iron District soccer stadium project takes step forward
