Omar Shaikh isn’t actually opposed to a ‘Beer District’ at American Family Field. But he’s skeptical.

We're very excited to be joined today by Restaurant Tour, developer, community leader,

chairman of the Home Crew Coalition, Omar Shack, Omar, thank you for being here.

Welcome to the Reconboxing Area.

So just to give our listeners here a little bit of context about how this conversation

came together.

We had a little bit of a disagreement on social media talking about the issues, though.

Not a personal disagreement or anything like that.

Just a disagreement about issue involving what we've dubbed at the Reconbibulation Area,

the Beer District.

And so we had a little bit of a Twitter back and forth about that, disagreeing about a

piece of the deal that involved development around American Family Field.

Now that the deal has been signed, part of that deal involved a study to kind of examine

what the possibilities might be for development around American Family Field.

And the story that I commented on that kind of kicked this whole thing off was from

AJ Biopor at CBS 58, where you spoke out in opposition to the Beer District.

So you have this role as the Coalition Chairman of the Home Crew Coalition.

And obviously you're going to be involved in a lot of those conversations.

So I'll ask you the same question now that I asked on Twitter, which is, you know, even

before the study happens, you're voicing opposition.

Why?

Why wouldn't we seek leverage, seek to leverage this massive investment to have a direct

impact on the neighborhoods surrounding the ballpark?

And why are so many leaders in this town so opposed to progress?

Well, you know what I'll say this.

I should probably shouldn't have said I'm in opposition of it.

I don't think that's fair that I've said that.

I actually might be forward, I mean, let's see what these studies come up with.

I just don't think whoever is going to do the deal can make financial sense of it.

I just don't, you know, it's a 27-year extension to the lease.

Brewers don't own the land, they don't own the building, stay don't, right?

Normally on a deal like that.

A lot of people don't get that too.

So the state owns the lots, the state owns the facility, not the team.

That's right.

And so, you know, with the 27-year runway, that's not a very long time for a developer.

There's a lot of developers out there that are going to put in tens or hundreds of millions

of dollars towards something.

You know, they really want to see a land contract with a 99-year lease, right?

And so I just don't see how you can make financial sense of it.

I think it's on an island by itself over there.

Listen, in a perfect world, you do the beer district.

You build a manamny valley, and you tie downtown, believe me, I believe in growth of neighborhoods

that would tie us together.

I just don't see it happening.

I just don't.

So I shouldn't have said that I don't want this to happen.

But I do have my reasons, too, that we can talk about, is that there, I think there's

pros and cons to as well.

So maybe instead of opposition, skepticism, be a better way to characterize that?

Yes, skepticism, skepticism, 100%.

Okay.

So let's get into that a little bit.

So, you know, if the state is going to make this investment, this half a billion dollar

investment in American Family Field, we're already, you know, seeing what some of that investment

is going to go toward.

Why wouldn't we, you know, and if the goal of that investment is the larger economic impact

of it?

Which I'm not denying, either.

I think there are some people who say, you know, that investments in stadiums have no

impact.

I'm not saying that either.

What I'm saying is, though, is that why not see that investment in the neighborhoods

immediately surrounding the stadium in West Milwaukee and West Dallas.

And I think there's a whole lot of potential on, you know, the West side of Milwaukee,

in Milwaukee County.

Why not invest in, you leverage that investment to make some meaningful change in the neighborhood

surrounding it?

I don't disagree with that.

I don't.

I really don't.

I think it's going to be a lot more difficult than what most will think, especially the

beer district area.

I mean, it's also like under the parking lots, there's a myriad of mechanicals and utilities

underneath there.

Right.

So when you start digging up the ground and you have to move all those, I like utility.

What is the cost there?

It's an unknown as well.

So there's so many, this is such a complex and complicated thing, believe me, if there's

a way to build those areas around it, everybody wins.

Yes.

So, you know, let me step back for a minute.

So I was a business news reporter for many years before I started the Reconvibrillation

Area.

I was at business times in Milwaukee for a while.

I was at the Milwaukee Business Journal for a while, you know, there's always so much

optimism in the business community about big developments, about big projects.

And I think that's what struck me with your comments and comments from others in the

business community about this potential beer district, where there's skepticism about

this project where there's optimism about certain others.

Why do you think that is?

Well, you know, it's a little bit of what I talked about.

It's kind of an an island by itself over there, right?

So let's take a look at the beer district over here with the deer district, right?

That's been a massive development in a lot of different places.

We're in the center downtown here by the deer district.

We got the convention center.

You have 2,200 hotel keys within six blocks, 1,900 apartments, or whatever it is.

And you've seen a lot of turnover on places there, too.

And that's in the smack center of downtown.

And so, you know, I will say, I'm skeptical, do I think if something works and somebody's

willing to invest in it and have something work, I think it'd be a great thing.

Yeah.

So I reached out to some folks in the development world about this.

Some of the statistics about, you know, kind of larger trends in the Milwaukee metro area,

I think are interesting and relevant to this discussion.

So one of the statistics was that the Milwaukee metro currently has just a 5% vacancy rate.

It's the lowest in the country, a fourth lowest in the country among the 50 largest markets.

And you know, just overall looking at the need for to build new housing in the Milwaukee

area, I think there is a strong need.

And so, you know, and I think one of the places that has done well in recent years with new

development is West Alice, right, right around the corner from, from, you know, American

Family Field, where a potential beer district could be.

So why not seize that opportunity to build something like housing around the beer district,

around the stadium?

I wouldn't be opposed to it.

Yeah.

If you can find a developer and somebody that's going to invest that type of capital and

that makes sense to them, I'm not opposed to it.

But, you know, the study and all of that, that the brewers will be conducting, you know,

are you hopeful that that would produce a better understanding of what exactly we could,

we could see from this project?

I mean, that's a goal.

Yeah.

I mean, I think, you know, I might be talking a little bit of out of school here because,

you know, I haven't done any of the feasibility studies or anything like that.

And, you know, one of those very successful developers, you know, I'm a restaurant tour

by trade, right?

I'm starting to invest in different types of real estate projects, but I'm not a big

time developer.

I'm really not.

But I do think it has to make financial sense for them.

And I think that the study is going to, you know, hopefully, they can come up with feasibility

study that says, hey, we can make this work and you build something.

You know, one of the things, I doubt it, you just don't think the numbers will add up.

I just don't see it.

I don't see it.

Again, I'm not a true expert on this, but, you know, hopefully, what's the mean thing

driving your skepticism?

Is it just the difference between, you know, the downtown deer district versus a Westside

beer district?

Is that it?

Or is there something else driving the skepticism?

There's a massive amount of capital, and again, I talked a little bit about the deer

district, but it'll also, you know, the utilities under the ground, but there's other things

like, you know, you want to say about a lot of that land for tailgating culture, because

that's really important to a lot of people as well.

But about 94, right?

And I think it's Brewer's Boulevard and the uncertainty of 94, too.

And I mean, there's just a lot of different things and moving parts.

And it's going to be interesting to see the study.

Yeah, I think, you mentioned the highways around there, too.

We're obviously in the middle of this discussion about expanding I-94 in the east-west corridor,

and perhaps reimagining the stadium freeway, the two-mile spur going north of 94, which

I've written many times about, you know, how we should tear down that freeway and reimagining

it as a Boulevard.

What do you think about that potential project and how it might connect to, you know, further

development around the stadium?

I don't know enough about it, to be honest with you.

I mean, I haven't seen any of your articles.

I actually will look at that article afterwards.

I don't know enough about it to really have an opinion at this point, to be frank.

But I do know that there are a lot of discussions around it, and there are some leaders that

respect the leaders that are quarrels.

And so, but that also leads to some uncertainty in terms of what happens with the land for

the Boulevard, the freeway, that also should claim to the mix in some of the decision-making

here too.

One thing I saw in the news recently that I thought kind of piqued my interest, and I'm

curious, just your overall thoughts on it and your role with that home crew coalition

was that they, part of the deal was to kind of reconstitute this stadium district board,

right?

And so, like the governor had certain appointments, the state senate had certain appointments,

the state assembly had certain appointments.

And one of the ways through the governor's appointments was the brewers suggested a number

of people to be on that.

And one of the people they suggested, this suggested appointment for the governor from

the brewers was a guy named Michael Cantor, who works with Sterling Project Development,

a key contributor to the title town project in Green Bay.

Is that a sign that the brewers maybe are a little bit more receptive to, you know, development

around the stadium?

I don't think they're ever fully opposed to it.

I don't think so.

I certainly think that that's a sign that they're taking a look at it, and they're going

to do these studies.

Yeah.

Yeah, one of the things that I think makes this an interesting opportunity as well, not

only, you know, we have the stadium has maybe a little bit more parking than it needs,

right?

It has more parking than Disney World at American Family Field.

We could debate about that.

I'm not saying that we should-

Is that a fact?

Yeah.

And that there are more parking spaces at American Family Field that there are at Disney World

in the Orlando and Florida.

Okay.

I was just there, Florida, by the way.

It seems like there's a lot of parking spots there.

It seems like a good time to be in Florida this time of year in Milwaukee.

But yeah, so I think some have pointed to, you know, maybe the spaces that are, you know,

east of 175, east of the brewers bowl of art there, close to the Manamani River.

There's also that opportunity with the former Kamatsu site that is now vacant.

Yep.

And so, you know, I think that's another piece of this that could lend itself to, you

know, bringing in somebody with an expertise that has a title town development to look at

that Kamatsu site, look at some of those parking spaces that we're not even full for the

playoff game, right, to reimagine something.

There's opportunity there.

Yeah.

I think there's certainly opportunity there, especially the Kamatsu site too.

I don't know how large that is, but I, boy, how many acres is that, you know, I don't

know the...

It's pretty massive, though.

Yeah.

I certainly think there's opportunity.

Again, I don't, in all my conversations, I don't think the brewers are ever like, no,

we don't want to do this, but it has to make sense, right, for all parties involved.

Yeah.

So, tell me about how you got involved with the Home Crew coalition.

Sure.

I mean, walk me through just the timeline.

I know you've been involved in so many different things involving, you know, sports and

athletes in whatever around town for a long time.

How did you end up with the Home Crew coalition?

I just, you know, I think I kind of get involved in just about everything here.

I try to.

I don't know if I try to, or it just happens, right?

But with the brewers, I mean, you know, I've been a lifelong fan of the brewers, and so

I remember my parents taking me and the family and wearing the jerseys and going to the

county stadium, and that was really what shaped the families.

And so, to me, you know, that culture of going to a game together and the tailgating and

all that was so important to me, right?

And so, you know, and I also know that there's so many people that feel that way and are

passionate about brewers.

And honestly, I just felt that we needed to do something and put together some leaders

who just couldn't lose them.

You know, I mean, is it a net positive or net negative to keep them, right?

It's a net positive.

And if you were to lose them, they have other options to go other places.

And not that they wanted to, but we'd never have a major lead in there again.

Now, it's a state run facility.

It's tax payers dollars, right?

They own it.

Well, what do you do with it then?

You can do some concerts, but you can't, how many concerts you're going to do, right?

And so, to me, I wanted to form a coalition, become friends with the ownership there and

we're slushing to the president and the management and I said, look, let me form this coalition

and just work side by side with you guys and try to spread awareness and education in

terms of why we believe this needs to get done.

And I understand there's both sides, there's arguments to both sides, but at the end of

the day is that a net positive or net negative, right?

I mean, there's thousands, thousands, thousands of employees, they draw people from all across

the country and all across the world.

I mean, it's not just Wisconsin, right?

I mean, I've met families from all across the country that come in for games because

of five game series and what do they do then?

They stay in hotels and then what do they do?

They spend money into the community.

So all these other people from outside of here are spending money and for our infrastructure

here in Wisconsin.

And just to me, we call ourselves a world-class city, if we were to lose a major lead team,

how do we justify that?

How do we call ourselves a major lead city?

So you were in charge of kind of piecing together the rest of the leadership for this as

well?

Yeah, I put together a bunch of people on a coalition statewide and some of these folks

were lobbyists and some weren't.

And it was just going out grassroots and it was just going out and talking to business

leaders, there's talking to anyone and everyone.

And some of them were working on some of the state legislators and working again side by

side with the brewers and just spreading awareness and trying to build this coalition to get

support of why we need to keep the brewers here in town.

Yeah, I know.

Do you thought of brewers games?

I do.

Yeah, I'm a huge brewers fan.

My family's been going to brewers games.

I have a chair from Milwaukee County Stadium in my backyard.

In your backyard?

Yeah, it's awesome.

I've had it since I was a little kid.

Do you have an option or something?

It was, you know, they kind of sold different pieces of county stadium when they were kind

of disassembling it or whatever.

And I got it as a birthday present one year because that was a huge baseball fan and

I was a kid.

So I still have it in my backyard.

And so, yeah, huge baseball fan, huge sports fan in general.

So obviously, I do understand the value of that and just when my family gets together,

we'll talk brewers and whatever it is.

But I also, as somebody who reports on and analyzes a lot of public policy, I think there's

trade-offs, right?

I mean, for spending $500 million on an investment in a baseball stadium, maybe we're not spending

it on something else or not giving it back in a tax cutter, you know, there's a variety

of different viewpoints that some might have on that.

I think the amount of money being spent on this, it's more than the Ficer form deal.

And I think, you know, and that was a deal that I supported at the time as well.

But I think, you know, you have to look at what it's coming from as well and, you know,

their opportunity costs built into all of that.

Yeah, they're a little bit of a different apples to oranges type deal, but I see what you're

saying, yeah.

Yeah.

So, as you got involved with this home crew call, is there like a time when you did you

volunteer to get involved, where you, somebody reach out to you and were you like hired?

Is this a paid position?

I don't remember.

I just, I think I was, I think I was at dinner with some of the folks and I said, look,

let me help.

How can I help?

Like, let's form this volunteer coalition and work side by side with you and just find

a way to, you know, build support of this.

So it was a volunteer coalition, not a paid position in any way, okay.

So there was some news about, about American Family Field this week involving a property

you're a little bit familiar with, where we're sitting right now in their street market

hall.

So how did that all come about?

Again, I think just everything in ideas always come through dinner conversations or conversations

with friends, right?

And two, so, you know, they, if you take a, have you ever been to Petco Park in San Diego?

I have not.

So what they do is they, they, they, they wanted to kind of elevate the ballpark experience

with authentic and different types of ethnic foods, you know, restaurant groups, where it's

actual restaurant group, their employees, their ownership of it.

I used to live in Seattle, they did that in Seattle a lot.

Seattle does it as well, yeah, so, and so, so we just came up with this idea and, you know,

it's like, hey, listen, like, I actually pitched this idea, I think 10, 15 years ago to,

to Rick, I think it was, and I was like, look, let's put sushi in the stadium, that was

a long time ago, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so, I think, listen, people go to a ballpark in the tradition, our burgers, brats,

and beer, and, and that's great, and that will never go away, but I think sometimes it's

going to be people that are like, you know what, let me try something else here too, because

I, because I come to multiple games a year, not just one game a year.

And so, the idea was to, to, you know, draw more people your age or draw families that

might want something a little bit different, right?

And give them a little atmosphere like Third Suite has, where this is a turf area, you can

play your little video games, and just kind of a hangout area, that's by the local brews

over there in the, in the other bar.

Sure, sure.

So, it just be kind of a hangout area, you can get, you can food made from our vendors there.

So, you know, this is, this is a great branding deal for us at Third Suite Market Hall, we're

not taking a percentage from the event, these are the vendors, the vendors own these units.

Okay.

And so, it's great for them.

It's an incredible opportunity for them, for their families, and also just to get their

name out there to the broad stream of people.

So, if you talk to the vendors, which you're welcome to do, they're incredibly grateful

for the opportunity, and so, this is, I think, it's going to be an incredible thing for

them.

Yeah, I love it.

And it really doesn't interfere with the beer district.

I mean, this is when they already come into the park, they're right there in the low

storage level.

So, you know, it's not like it's going to get the pre or the post.

And honestly, it's just a great opportunity for some local, independent, restaurant tours,

and like any time a rapist, smoking jacks bar, barbecue, kumbale, and kala.

Well, I'm definitely excited to be going to any time a rapist when I'm at the baseball

again.

Very good.

For sure.

Big fan of theirs.

So, I got to ask, though, I mean, because I think people are curious, does this,

so, third street market hall development have anything to do with your opposition or

escapacism with the beer district?

Zero.

Absolutely nothing.

It has nothing to do with that at all.

And honestly, this was during that whole time, and I mean, we really kind of came up with

the idea around that time frame, but it was almost sort of afterwards, but it really

doesn't interfere with a beer district.

Beer district is getting the people pre-really before and after the games.

I mean, you're already in here with this.

So, I will tell you, this is, for me, driven by, yes, we're going to get great branding

for third street market hall.

I get it, right?

It's a business guy.

You got it.

And it's a branding deal?

Not a financial deal.

It's a branding deal for third street market hall.

Third street market hall doesn't make any money after this deal.

Okay.

But the vendors will.

And so, providing opportunities for the independent vendors to get their cut, because

they're going to own it, and get their names out there, and get some branding out of it

for them too.

It's a huge opportunity for them.

It's a huge opportunity.

Okay.

Lots of them.

Great.

Yeah.

So, you know, just, again, let's big picture, 30,000-foot view.

When you look at the next, you know, the duration of this lease is 27 years.

What would you like to see happen in a best-case scenario?

Let's say, you know, let's say this study says a development is, there's a great potential

for development around this.

What would you like to see happen in the next 27 years around American family field?

Look, if that, if the studies come back, in, again, I don't represent the brewers.

I know.

I know.

Right.

But just my opinion, if the studies come back and say, look, this makes financial sense,

and we can develop a partner, or whatever you're going to develop over there.

Yeah.

I'd be for it.

100%.

I mean, you know, it's, why wouldn't I be, right?

But again, I'm a little skeptical.

I'm, hopefully it does.

Well, that's why I'm talking hypothetically.

It's just a best-case scenario.

Best-case scenario.

I'd love to see that happen.

Yeah.

I'd love to see the nominee value continue to grow, right?

And it's a bridge in between.

I'd love to see West Milwaukee, which I spent a little more time in, and I met with some

folks there in the West Milwaukee years.

That area grow.

That's a perfect world.

It's an absolute perfect world.

And I'd love to see this one in the World Series, too.

That would, that would be nice.

That would be, having a parade down.

Talking about perfect world.

Having a parade down in Brewer's Boulevard, or, you know, I mean, it's like, and I know

that some people may get mad at me for saying this, but, um, no, we made the playoffs.

The last, what, five out of six years?

Was it?

I mean, you know, and they've made it four times in the history of the team before that.

And, and been in first place, I mean, you know, in a team with a, you know, we can't compare

with payrolls that are three times more than us.

It's just not, you know, and so-

A lot of bites at the Apple, as they say, right?

Right.

And I think this team is, I mean, we made the playoffs five out of six years.

Yeah.

Of course, do you want to go deeper?

Yes, of course.

It should be proud of, like, a team that's played really well and been in first place.

And hopefully, this is our year.

We'll see.

Yeah, absolutely.

All right.

So, I'm wondering if, since we have a little bit of time, you said you had about a half

hour here, if I could give you a couple rapid-fire questions, I'm just other big projects

happening in Milwaukee.

Sure.

All right.

Where do you stand on tearing down 794?

I need to learn more about it, to be frank.

Um, I'll, I'll be frank.

My life is, and I'm not just saying this to avoid the question.

My life is incredibly busy and focused on the things that I'm involved in.

I really need to learn more about it and be educated on it before I make a decision

before I get my opinion on that.

Um, I, I really don't know, to be honest, right now.

And people have asked me that question.

I'd like to be able to take the time to be able to do the research, so I really know what

I'm talking about here, to be honest.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Well, I'll get you a recombobulation area subscription, so we can, so you can get some

of the, uh, some of the articles we're putting out on that topic.

Let's do it.

I'll head off today.

I have a few.

Okay.

Okay.

So the RNC is coming this year.

Yeah.

I know you've been an advocate for, for the convention coming to Milwaukee, since the beginning.

Mm-hmm.

You had an op-ed about this in the journal sentinel, you've been vocal about this in a number

of ways.

Yes.

Since it's now very likely that Donald Trump is going to be the nominee, uh, giving that

convention speech, does that change your perception of, of this convention at large or

change your level of support for it at all?

I, uh, I think all large conventions are good for our community.

Um, I'm hoping for the best and hoping that, you know, that it's a very positive, incredible

experience from Milwaukee, but what I have in mind is I have, I have in large part the

hospitality community in mind, you know, and representing through the pandemic to stay

open, you know, and not just being willing, nearly about it.

Like, working with medical college Wisconsin, working with tons of other operators in

health department, the form of criteria to keep them open, now I'm looking at it like,

look, we've gone through a pandemic, we've gone through tough times, you know, we really

need a large scale convention, we need that influx of money to come to a city.

In addition to that, I mean, it's like we're talking 15,000 potential cameras, this is

our chance to show Milwaukee.

Mm-hmm.

I want to be very reminded, I want to remind everyone I was very involved in the DNZ as

well.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

For us, also, I've been very involved in tourism from a state and city perspective.

You're all with visit Milwaukee.

And then state tourism, come to all that, and so, you know, I know what this is going

to do for future conventions, so we pull this off and Milwaukee, I'm so proud, I believe

this city, right?

The hospitality that we show in the city is some of the best in the country.

And if we can show and roll out the carpet for any large scale convention, we've got

the shot to win a lot of conventions over the next few decades, because we're not

doing expansion of the $460 million completion of convention center, I was a little involved

in that too.

Mm-hmm.

And so, you know, we want these visitors coming here and paying for our infrastructure.

Mm-hmm.

So yeah, like you mentioned, you said you supported the DNZ as well and all of that.

But, you know, these are not necessarily normal times, not Donald Trump, it's not a normal

candidate.

Donald Trump is repeatedly lied about the legitimacy of Milwaukee's votes.

And I think many people are very taken aback by that and say that this is not normal time.

So, the fact that he has lied about the legitimacy of Milwaukee's votes bother you.

I am on the host committee, so, you know, why don't we have another interview after the

R&C?

Okay.

Is that fair?

Yeah, sure.

Yeah.

I'm just, you know, just as a Milwaukee and as somebody who cares about this city and

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Does it bother you that they lied about the legitimacy of our votes?

You're wearing a mug of hat, right?

I mean, I know.

No, I know.

And I know you're trying to put me in the corner with this one.

I'm just, I think it's an honest question.

But I, I, yeah, why don't we, why don't we do the interview after the convention and hopefully

a lot of the hospitality and hotels and restaurants and the city flourishes and then I can

get my opinion on that?

And I'm happy to give you my opinion after that.

All right, sounds good.

Looking forward to that conversation, too.

Another big project that was that launched this past year, the new bus rapid transit line,

which comes right by third street market hall.

I take it here often.

Yeah.

What are your thoughts on bus rapid transit in a big picture sense?

And do you think, you know, downtown businesses like yours could be doing more to promote

this new offering?

No, I think it's a very positive thing.

Yeah.

What's the name for it again?

What's the term for it?

I forgot.

The connect one is the name of the line.

Just bus rapid transit, I think is the...

I thought there was another name for it for some reason, so, but yeah, no, I mean, it's

it could be, it could be a really good thing.

For sure.

You know, people, people approach me on topics all the time of how I can keep behind it and

how I can support it.

I'm not out actively looking of how I can support certain things.

I just don't have the time, but that's one thing I, that's one item that I do would support.

Okay.

There's been a lot of proposals this past year for concert venues in Milwaukee.

Other heaven?

The one in the...

The one in the deer district.

There's one in the, I guess what they're calling now, the iron district.

Yeah.

You know, just as somebody who's involved in events and restaurants and all that, I'm

not asking like, you know, are you involved directly a part of that.

But what's your...

What are your thoughts on that?

I'm a little involved in all of it, right?

Okay.

So, you know, SR is a good friend of mine who's doing the iron district over there and

it's a very positive thing for the city.

I mean, when you're building a soccer stadium, you're going to draw people and bring

people here.

And in the buck's steel over there with live nation, you know, I get it, they're 8,000

pound gorilla, but I was in support of it.

Because when you can build a $60 million facility and you don't get a penny from the city

or state in terms of subsidy, and you're going to draw people here for clearly, I don't

know, I'm not an expert in the concert business, but there's got to be a niche for it for these

guys to be to invest that much money into it.

I really, really, really hope it doesn't hurt the other operators.

I don't think it will.

Everything I've heard, I've heard that Madison, they were really opposed to them going

there and then everyone's still in business and thriving there from what I've heard.

Look, I'm good friends with Matt here, you know, and so great guys and what they've

done for the city is tremendous, right?

And so kind of involved in it all and hopefully, you know, everyone still continues to thrive.

And then Potawatomi is building one as well.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, so it might be re-reading it, reaching a saturation point of concert venues here,

but, you know, yeah, it's very interesting.

It's a question I like to ask a lot of people, like yourself, what's something about Milwaukee

that no one is talking about that people should be paying more attention to?

Oh, boy, that's a good question.

I guess I'd have to think about that one.

I mean, there's just so many positive things happening here, right?

Yeah.

There really are.

I wrote recently that this, I'm more optimistic now about Milwaukee than any time since

I've lived here in the less, almost 15 years.

I'm more bullish on the city than I've ever been and I think right now, what we need

to be talking about more is, and honestly speaking, really being more in support of our mayor,

Shabby, of Cavalier Johnson, and in support of David Crowley, are kind of exact.

I mean, I don't think that, you know, I think they're pretty likely to get re-elected, so.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm certainly going to contribute to both and do everything I can to help both because

they've been awesome.

They've been brilliant.

And they've stood up the things and they've certainly been leaders, right?

And they've reached across the aisle to have meetings in order to, you know, ensure that

this city has long-term sustainability.

And so, you know, it's, I think right now with new leaders that are reaching across the

aisle and my goal is, you know, I voted for both sides of the aisle and I don't even know

what I am to be honest with you.

I don't.

But I think that we need to be really, truly working together more in order to really

accomplish great things.

I think it happens more than people think, but on the big ones, we really need to come

together more and it's a little scary at times and we're living in scary times.

So, when you see leaders like that and leaders on both sides can put their egos aside and

actually get together to get things done, that's what I'm all about.

And that's why I am in the mix for certain, some of these things is I think I'm reasonable,

most think I am.

And I'd like to try to bring people together to present solutions.

Awesome.

Any other big picture thoughts on the potential beer district, on development around the stadium

about more?

Just look in a perfect world, it would be a positive thing, damn, it really would be.

So if you come back with studies and there's developers and people that want to invest in

it, invest in the neighborhoods, something has to happen on West Bank.

There's no doubt.

There's no doubt.

You know, so I don't even remember what I said and it would be a jade by a portrait.

That was, I was going through a really rough time and I like to insert things so I was

lacking sleep and I don't remember if I said I was, was it, did I say I was like a pose

to this happening?

Did I say I don't think that this can happen?

I think you said the report characterized the what you said as opposition.

Opposition.

Well, I take that back.

Okay.

We're making progress here.

Yeah, I just think, you know, the mayor has said this too is that, you know, we don't

want the area around the American family field to look the same at the end of the lease

as it looks at the beginning of the lease.

I think that would be a missed opportunity.

Would you agree?

Yeah, I mean for sure.

I really do.

Will that happen?

I began.

I'm skeptical.

Yeah.

It has to make financial sense.

Yeah.

I think it's more than fair to be skeptical.

But I think, I think it would also lend a lot of support to the overall potential, right?

To be optimistic, to be positive about working in other cities.

Yeah, exactly.

I mean, tremendously.

I, you know, I really do take my statement back, but listen, I'll do the deal if I win

the powerball.

You got my word.

If I win a large sum of money with a powerball, I will do that to help them in around the state

and you got my word.

All right.

So it's good.

Well, that seems like a good place to end is that, oh, Mark, thank you so much for joining

us today at the Reconvagulation Grant.

Thank you, buddy.

Thank you all for listening to this podcast.

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