Portfolio of Matthew Gifford

In the heart of the Milwaukee Metro area is a plan that three distinct leaders are striving to reach, each with their own background, perspective and expertise but a singular goal nonetheless: to have Milwaukee reach the benchmarks in the “Connec+ting MKE: Downtown Plan 2040.”

 To do so would mean an additional 30,000 jobs downtown and more than  doubling of the downtown population. As cranes dot the skyline, approvals of world-renowned projects, and downtown seeing economic prosperity, it’s clear that these leaders are not just talking but are actively participating and facilitating the changes to the downtown area. Meet a developer, Boris Gokhman, a community organizer, Carl Glasemeyer, and a city council member, Robert Bauman, whose collaboration and dedication are driving these transformational changes.

For Boris Gokhman, a founding partner of New Land Enterprises, the revitalization of downtown isn’t merely a business endeavor — it’s an ardor for the community. With a background in real estate development, he founded the company over 30 years ago, and exclusive development in Milwaukee and a belief in clean developments, Gokhman’s projects aim to increase housing for residents and create a desirable lifestyle.

“Knowing that the city has an ambitious plan to grow the city and population and jobs helps you to continue,” Gokhman said. “It’s not just the building. Street improvements, wide sidewalks, protected bike lanes, lights, safety in driving and road crossings. People feel welcome with things like this.”

New Land Enterprises is also known for its building, the tallest mass timber building in the world. “The pinnacle is Ascent,” said Gokhman. “We’re looking for people to rent apartments, not just because it’s brand new, but because it’s a lifestyle and it’s an experience.”

Through public-private partnerships, the current and future developments would simply not be possible. Working together with the city, and the mutual interests of a developer to provide a welcoming and safe city for residents, “We’ve been always, in my opinion, always in sync. You cannot do it in a vacuum,” said Gokhman. 

For Carl Glasemeyer — an advocate for improving land usage and cleaner modes of transportation the work may only be just beginning. As the Transportation Policy Director at 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, Glasemeyer took on the challenge of the “Rethink 794 Project,” to bring the highway to an at-grade boulevard to allow development on Milwaukee’s most valuable land. 

“We’ve seen a lot of success recently in downtown from its growing population. I feel like every month we continue to hear different companies that are moving their headquarters back here, or at least an office back into downtown Milwaukee, we need room to grow,” said Glasemeyer.

I-974 Looking East. Photo by Matthew Gifford

In August, a new high-rise building, 333 N Water, will open just one-block away from the highway. Glasemeyer said, “I think it’s very promising. I think it’s a great illustration.”

By engaging with the community to build a movement from the ground up rather than from the top-down approach which many large development projects experience, community attendance on the matter with WisDOT has seen a sharp increase and proposals have made their way into the city plan for 2040. Glasemeyer said, “The public response has been overwhelming and wonderful. They [WisDOT] were surprised in a positive way.”

In the office of Aldermanic District Four, in what once was the tallest inhabited building in the world, Milwaukee City Hall, is Robert Bauman. His role is not only to pass parking ordinances, it’s about serving the community and listening to experts to create a more prosperous city to create a better livelihood for the community.  

“The whole freeway idea, the whole removal idea, came up as a result of the [2040] planning process. It really wasn’t on our radar,” said Bauman.“At the end of the day, we serve with the consent of the governed, and if other people don’t consent to tearing down the freeway, we have to recognize that.”

A study from the University of Toronto found that Milwaukee was one of the few cities in the Midwest to see growth in foot traffic from residents and visitors alike. “I think the guidance of our urban planning work, and that we actually tried to implement what urban planners tell us is best practices … but when it comes to implementing a plan, a lot of it will involve city decision-making,” said Bauman.

Bauman also believes that true partnership with businesses along with the community is paramount to its success. Bauman said, “I think that our relationship with NML [Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company] has been critical. … Their decision to locate their corporate headquarters and build the big building was absolutely catalytic.” Bauman said regarding Northwestern Mutual’s dedication to the success of the city, “based on the commitment of the city leadership, to follow its plans to demonstrate improvement, and to demonstrate that the downtown area could be livable, attractive, and especially attractive to young professionals who they were trying to recruit and retain.”

In the past year, over 12 companies announced their relocation or expansion in downtown, creating an estimated 7,600 jobs. Bauman was instrumental in the “CORE Resolution” passed in 2019 to ensure that real estate development in downtown will contain Community Benefit Agreements that provide a percentage of job opportunities for local residents. 

The Couture apartment building under construction, February 2024. Photo by Matthew Gifford

“So not only are we looking at family-supporting jobs on the construction site, which generally already exist, I mean, those are well-paying jobs. But family-supporting jobs for the permanent positions … so we want to make sure that the benefits of all this development are going back into lower and moderate income communities,” said Bauman.

It is clear that the collective efforts of these three leaders are changing what’s possible in downtown Milwaukee. The city is not just about buildings — it’s about people— people like Boris Gokhman, Carl Glasemeyer and Robert Bauman who strive to create new opportunities for residents where they’ll have a chance to thrive. Gokhman said, “We have art museums, theaters, entertainment districts, we have Third Ward. We have the lakefront and riverwalk. We have a very dynamic city.”