ZILBER PABST SALE COMPLETE; PLANS FOR "LEGACY" DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCED

By Michael Horne

Joseph J. Zilber, the 88-year old founder and Chairman of the Board of Zilber Ltd., a Milwaukee real estate holding company, announced today that he had completed the purchase of the former Pabst Brewery site.
He made the statement in a second floor room above Mo's A Place for Steaks, located in the Empire Building, 710 N. Plankinton Av. to an audience of about thirty. (Interestingly, none were representatives of the city.)
Zilber's previously-announced plans for the 21-acre, 27 structure, 1.1 million square foot space parcel called for the development of a neighborhood at the site of the former brewery, and Wednesday he expanded upon his comments, saying he hopes "to create a new neighborhood that has a balance of housing, offices, retail, industrial and community oriented space that would add to Milwaukee's great neighborhood system. ... It is also important for you to know that it is our intention to submit an application to the United States Green Building Council to participate in their pilot program to create a LEED certification initiative for neighborhoods. We plan to seek either a gold, or platinum certification regarding sustainability on this project."
Zilber also said he would ask for a Tax Incremental Financing District for the area, adding, "we anticipate that the amount of the TIF that we will be submitting to the Common Council will be significantly less than that submitted in the previous plan."
He was referring to the failure of the $71.5 million TIF submitted last year by Wispark. The council rejected that TIF proposal, paving the way for Zilber's purchase of the property. The previous project was heavy on fanfare, and originally called for a George Karl basketball camp, a House of Blues, a cinema, a Gameworks and other entertainments, none of which ultimately were built either at PabstCity (as the project was then called) or elsewhere in the metropolitan area.
Zilber did not announce any tenants for his project, to be named, simply, "The Brewery," but assistant Mike Mervis said there is a great interest in the preservation of some of the historic buildings on the property, saying that a small advertisement in Preservation magazine brought over 200 inquiries.
Zilber said the brewery was "a personal venture of mine, which will be my legacy, and a commitment to the city I love."
For now, he plans to meet with the aldermen to discuss the TIF proposal, and to use the proceeds to make site improvements, including the demolition of some buildings, and apparently, parts of other buildings. Properties that remain would be offered for sale cleared and abated.
"Needless to say, with over 1.4 million square feet of space, some of it in terrible disrepair and on the verge of collapse, devising a plan to convert that space to usable, productive, desirable housing, office, industrial and retail space presents a formidable challenge."
The schedule for a "project of this size and scope is constantly changing," Zilber told the audience. He hopes to receive council approval later this year. If so, he would begin remediation and infrastructure work late this year.
"It is our intention to sell individual pieces of the Pabst to employers [Johnson Controls, Inc. is a name that has been bandied about -- ED.], entrepreneurs, preservationists and community oriented groups that have expertise in housing, office development, industrial and retail. These buildings will be sold remediated of all environmental issues and will be ready for final build out and occupancy."
Mervis, Zilber's assistant, said two blocks of the project are currently free of buildings and are abailable for $25 per square foot. He added that Zilber plans to negotiate to buy some county-owned property on the north edge of the development. You can view the project plans here.

A LOOK AT JOE ZILBER

Joe Zilber spends most of his time in Hawaii, and his visit to Milwaukee is the first I have seen him in two years. At Wednesday's conference he was dressed in a black suit with a colorful necktie. He spoke from prepared remarks and delivered his lines with wit and panache.
"I will be 90 years old next year. I just got a new pacemaker and the doctor informed me that it is good for at least another 10 years. The buildings at the Pabst are not getting better with age, although I think that I am. I intend to have a 100th birthday party at the Pabst. I will walk down beautiful tree lined streets, look in the windows of shops, small businesses and restaurants and stop in to visit people of all walks of life in their apartments, condos and homes. To achieve that goal is going to take a lot of people with vision, guts and a committment to the historical continuation of the Pabst Brewery. I intend to have one heck of a 100th birthday party at the Pabst. I hope you will join me."
Zilber, a lawyer who never practiced, is the cover feature of the Summer/Fall 2006 Marquette Lawyer, the Marquette University Law Alumni publication. Like so many other tasks, including construction, design and management, Zilber prefers to keep his legal work in-house. All of his attorneys are Marquette University Law grads.
Zilber also showed the audience a photograph of a Buddha-esque young baby. "That's my newest great-grandson," he said, pointing to the image of the rotund child. "He's meditating," he said.
--Michael Horne

THE HAERTEL PROPERTY
Jim Haertel, the local fellow who signed an option to purhcase the brewery site (on September 11, 2001) and got us into what has become a very complicated development scenario through his simple plan to preserve the Pabst property, was at the event. His $50,000 option is the genesis of a legal mess that is now before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which plans to hear arguments in October, he said. The case of Haertel v. Wispark et al is a classic little guy - big guy piece of litigation involving around title to the old visitor's center and executive offices, the gems of the brewery. Fortunately, the little guy (that would be Haertel in this case) has Bill Cannon as his attorney.
It was Haertel's intention to open the Museum of Beer and Brewing in the offices and a Hofbrauhaus in the visitor's center. That led him to Wispark, and a bizarre odyssey that finds him, apparently, with no title in hand, and what looks like a shot at a 10 per cent stake in the project. It is instructive that his buildings are listed in the Zilber site map as "Haertel Prop." PabstCity plans did not include his name.
"I think we need to have a beer museum in the city of Milwaukee," he said.
What about the Old German Beer Hall that opened recently on N. Old World Third St., and sells Hofbrau Munchen products exclusively?
"That is just a place to sell the product. Our plan is to operate a microbrewery and beer hall on the site," he said.
Joe Zilber was asked if Haertel was part of his plans for the development. "I love Jim Haertel," quoth the wily old fox.
Who can blame him?
--Michael Horne