Pabst bottling building turned into student housing

Facility will include food court,
convenience store and more

MILWAUKEE – It’s no secret that students heading to college often get their first taste of alcohol.

In Milwaukee, students could soon be living in a bottling house.

The former bottling house of the Pabst Brewing Co. complex, which has sat dormant since 1996, will be remodeled into student housing when it reopens as Eleven25 at Pabst in August.

The downtown Milwaukee project is set to cost $43 million. Comparatively, the county administrative center in La Crosse, sold to a development group for $250,000, will be turned into student housing for Western Technical College by fall of 2017 for around $10 million.

That, however, probably won’t include the amenities the one in downtown Milwaukee will have, which will include 151 apartments on three floors, a coffee shop, a convenience store and a food court with up to five restaurants. All of which will be open to the public.

The deal was first recommended for approval in November of 2014, but before the sale, five months were spent on environmental cleanup – mainly removing lead paint. Redevelopment on the building first started in 2007.

Now, 23 students have signed leases for the 2016-17 academic year already, according to general manager Jackie Higgins.

The building is near Marquette University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering, but Higgins says there has also been strong interest from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students.