Milwaukee City Plan Commission to hear zoning and development items July 20, including Midtown Center changes near Hope Avenue

The City of Milwaukee’s City Plan Commission (CPC) will hold a hybrid public meeting on Monday, July 20, 2026 to take up multiple zoning and development items—most notably changes related to the Midtown Center area near 5825 W. Hope Ave.

Hybrid meeting details: how to watch and participate

The CPC meeting starts at 1:30 p.m. and will be held in-person at Room 301-A, City Hall (200 E. Wells St., 3rd Floor). The City also says the meeting is virtual via GoToWebinar, but you must register in advance to join remotely.

To submit written input, the CPC says: submit comments via email no later than 24 hours prior to the meeting.

If you want to speak during the public testimony period remotely, the CPC instructs attendees to use GoToWebinar’s “raise your hand” feature so staff can unmute you.

What’s on the docket: Midtown Center near Hope Avenue

The July 20 agenda includes two Midtown Center items tied to the former Walmart building at 5825 W. Hope Ave:

• File 260029: A request for a deviation from Midtown Center Development Incentive Zone (DIZ) Overlay performance standards to allow an indoor self-storage facility and (as originally described) a data processing/computer services/computational research facility as permitted uses within a portion of the building.
• File 260030: A resolution approving changes to the site and the existing building previously occupied by Walmart at 5825 W. Hope Ave, relative to the Midtown Center DIZ overlay.

What changed in the applicant’s updated Midtown Center materials (dated 7/1/2026)

In a “PLEASE NOTE” section for items 4 & 5, the agenda packet states that the applicant submitted updated narrative and exhibits dated 7/1/2026 for City Plan Commission consideration. That note says the updated materials:

• Remove the data processing/computer services/computational research facility use from the proposal; and
• Limit the deviation request to self-service storage use within the rear portion of the building.

The agenda also says a Proposed Substitute A for item 4 will be considered to reflect this narrowed request.

Because these are agenda items for public hearing and consideration, they are not final approvals just because they appear on Monday’s docket.

Separate zoning item: Bader Philanthropies substitute ordinance (File 252189)

A separate CPC public hearing item on the docket is File 252189, a substitute ordinance relating to a zoning change to Detailed Planned Development (DPD) and the 1st Amendment to the DPD known as Bader Philanthropies.

The agenda describes this item as adding subject sites at 410 W. Concordia Ave and 3301 and 3307 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave to the DPD that currently includes 3300 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. This item is listed as part of the Zoning – Public Hearing 1:35 p.m. segment.

What residents and nearby businesses may want to listen for

If you live or run a business near Midtown Center—especially around 5825 W. Hope Ave—the key detail to watch is that the agenda packet explicitly flags an updated 7/1/2026 submission that removes the data-processing/computational research use and narrows the deviation to self-service storage in the rear portion of the building. Those are the points most likely to come up in public testimony and questions during the hearing.

Sources

• CPC meeting logistics (hybrid + public input rules)