Abandoned Walmart in Milwaukee eyed for potential data center

Proposed data center at Milwaukee's Midtown Center

A data center is planned for Milwaukee. One community group calls it an emergency, others say it is just a small part of a plan to transform an old Walmart.

MILWAUKEE - A data center is planned for Milwaukee. 

One community group calls it an emergency, others say it is just a small part of a plan to transform an old Walmart, near 60th and Capitol.

The plans call for affordable housing, a library, community space, self-storage and a data center.

Abandoned Walmart in Milwaukee eyed for affordable housing, library, community space, self-storage and data center, 60th and Capitol

Midtown Center plan

What we know:

The plan is to transform the parking lot of the old Walmart at the Midtown Center into affordable apartments, 100 of them.

Then, the front of the Walmart building is planned for a public library and community space.

Proposed data center at Milwaukee shopping center

Data center proposals have popped up across Wisconsin. Now, the site of an abandoned Walmart in Milwaukee is being eyed for a new potential data center.

The company that owns the building says in order to do the housing and community spaces, they need the money from the rest of the proposal.

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That is planned for the rear of the building, where the company plans to set up self-storage, and 19,000 square feet for what it calls "data processing/computer services/computer research." That later for computing represents about 12% of the whole building.

Proposed plan

That's about the size of about 1.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

This Walmart has been sitting vacant since 2016. In 2022, a company called AFS Milwaukee LLC bought it.

Data centers proposals are popping up in Wisconsin and across the country. But, unlike the massive sites being built in Racine County and Port Washington, this one is much smaller.

Now, community members react to news of a possible data center.

Midtown Center

What they're saying:

"I mean, who is it serving, though? Is it serving the community?" asked Keith Baker, who lives nearby. "I mean, what’s the purpose of a data center? What’s the purpose of it. I’d want to see something that gives back to the community. I want it to be something that’s going to help the community grow. You know what I mean? We got enough technology in the world already, the kids are already smart with phones."

"'Data centers' are a couple of very bad words these days. They conjure images of grey buildings covering thousands of acres, creating nuisance levels of noise, and taxing local water supplies and other resources," writes Milwaukee Alderman Mark Chambers, who represents the area.

"The development proposed for the Midtown center includes nothing even close."

He says the plans call for a closed loop system for water—meaning the water gets reused, and he says electricity usage will be limited.

He asked the Milwaukee City Plan Commission to delay discussing this proposal. This commission agreed, meaning there'll be more time for you to learn about this proposal.

"The primary focus of the overall development remains housing and a library, which are the central community benefits," said a spokesperson for the Milwaukee Department of City Development. "We are seeking additional clarification and details from the applicant regarding the technology-related portion of the proposal. We will share additional information as it becomes available to us to keep both the public and elected officials updated."