Downtown off-leash dog park to begin construction in August. Project to take four months

Construction of a Milwaukee downtown dog park beneath Interstate 794, just west of the Milwaukee River, is to begin in August.

That's the word from Matt Dorner, economic development director at the Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District. That organization and the Historic Third Ward Business Improvement District are leading the project.

An August groundbreaking is planned for the project site, south of West Clybourn Street between North Plankinton Avenue and the river, Dorner said at a Thursday downtown district board meeting. He said it would take about four months to build.

The project will cost around $760,000, according to a new permit application filed with the city Department of Neighborhood Services.

The dog park will be just north of Foxtown Landing −Foxtown Brewing's planned taproom, distillery and restaurant.

Foxtown Brewing is an affiliate of Mequon-based pet food maker Fromm Nieman Brands . Fromm Family Pet Food is the title sponsor of the off-leash dog park.

The three-story, 28,000-square-foot Foxtown Landing is planned for 412-420 N. Plankinton Ave.

The Historic Third Ward Architectural Review Board in February approved the project, with the Milwaukee Board of Zoning Appeals on Thursday granting a variance for it.

“The variance approval at BOZA was another positive step forward in our process to get shovels in the ground and commence the start of construction to bring Foxtown Landing to life," said Tom Nieman, Fromm president.

"As we work with our construction team and our partners at the City of Milwaukee on next steps, we hope to have an announcement on groundbreaking in the very near future," Nieman said, in a statement.

Foxtown Landing and the dog park will be connected by an outdoor plaza and a new section of the public RiverWalk .

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram , X and Facebook .

Subscribe to get the BusinessWatch email newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Downtown off-leash dog park to begin construction in August. Project to take four months