Project Background:

The King and Hadley property is part of the historic King Drive neighborhood, located immediately north of downtown Milwaukee. 

Encompassed by the city’s Harambee area, which is Swahili for “pulling together,” this neighborhood of more than 20,000 residents 

has served as the community’s commercial center for generations. The 0.64-acre King and Hadley property was once comprised 

of nine separate parcels used for a number of purposes over the past decades, including residential, auto repair, and dry cleaning 

facilities. By the early 1990s the property had become mostly idle and fallen into disrepair, prompting the Redevelopment Authority of 

the City of Milwaukee (RACM) to perform preliminary assessments; the RACM ultimately acquired the property through an adverse 

condemnation action in 1997. After taking ownership, the city performed a series of progressively more detailed assessments that 

revealed petroleum, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contaminating the property’s 

soil and ground water. In total, RACM spent $150,000 on assessments, demolition of structures, and the removal of underground 

storage tanks. These assessments were completed in 2003.

key accomPlishments:

•	 Leveraged $3.6 million to develop 6,000 square feet of street-level commercial 

space and 42 new apartment units, with 24 additional units planned.

•	 Created a residential and commercial facility on a former brownfield, with a modern, 

pedestrian-friendly design, and spurred additional development in the area.

•	 Received the 2005 Mayor’s Urban Design Award and the 2006 State Farm 

Insurance Building Blocks Award for Small Projects.

outcome:

Using the 2003 EPA Cleanup grant and $31,000 in additional funding from RACM, 

cleanup was completed in March 2005. These efforts included the removal of more 

than 3,000 tons of contaminated soil and installation of a vapor mitigation barrier. By this point the property had been purchased by 

King Drive Commons, LLC, which began a $3.6 million redevelopment project with assistance from the Martin Luther King Economic 

Development Corporation, a local community development corporation that ensured that the community was represented throughout 

the planning process. Redevelopment was completed only a few months later, in August 2005. The new complex features 6,000 square 

feet of street-level commercial space and 42 housing rental units on the upper floors. Additional, future construction will create another 

24 rental units. This redevelopment project received the 2005 Mayor’s Urban Design award and the 2006 State Farm Insurance 

Building Blocks Award for Small Projects, and was featured in a nationally released video on green buildings and sustainable design. The 

property’s reuse is just one component of the redevelopment of the historic King Drive Business Improvement District (BID); in just 

the past ten years, the historic King Drive BID has had over $200 million worth of new development, bringing customers to King Drive 

businesses and enhancing the area’s economic outlook.

In Milwaukee, King Commons Leads Development of the Historic King Drive Neighborhood

KING AND HADLEY PROPERTY Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Cleanup Grant

brownfields

at-a-glance

EPA 560-F-10-221

July 2010

For additional data and geographic information for this and other 

Brownfields Grants, please visit EPA’s Cleanups in My Community:

http://iaspub.epa.gov/Cleanups/

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ or call EPA Region 5 at (312) 886-6543

address: 2774 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, 

Milwaukee, WI 53212

ProPerty size: 0.64 Acres

Former use: Mixed use, including residential, auto repair, 

and dry cleaning

current use: Commercial and residential

ePa grant reciPient: Project Partners:

Redevelopment Authority of the City of 

Milwaukee; Martin Luther King Economic 

Development Corp.; King 

Drive Commons, LLC

The City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

received a $400,000 Cleanup grant 

in September 2003. 

Residential and commercial development on Milwaukee’s 

King and Hadley property.