Location Lead

At the party on Friday we met two guys in an interesting situation. They have been renting out a building off SE Milwaukee they use as an art studio/workshop. It seems they have upwards of 50 people all working in the studios yet they have no place close to eat. The building is GIGANTIC and they have been contemplating putting in a commercial kitchen so as to feed these artists. The idea is to bring in a caterer/restauranteur/coffee shop owner and let them open up shop.

So when we met them and told them we were looking for a place, the idea developed that maybe we could be those people. We took a drive down the next day to check out the situation. The building's in a great spot that seems to get a lot of foot traffic. The only problem is that it's definitely a warehouse/industrial building. There's no glass line; no real retail look to it at all.

It's definitely going to be an uphill battle to try to turn an industrial building into street retail with an A2 Occupancy (coffee shop). It may still be worth pursuing, though, because the main guy is super motivated and seems to have a great business sense. I love meeting people like this. He's got a real collaborative attitude and likes to help others succeed.

So if it doesn't lead anywhere, at least we met some cool, business-minded people. Plus we ended up discovering a totally awesome park with hiking trails:

Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge