The three-story building at 1135 W. Historic Mitchell St., a longtime commercial block that once housed a Foot Locker, is inching toward a sneakers-to-supper makeover. At its Jan. 12, 2026 meeting, the City of Milwaukee's Historic Preservation Commission signed off on plans to convert the upper floors to apartments and to update the storefront so a restaurant and lounge can move in, while still preserving the building's historic façade and drawing more foot traffic to the corridor.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the proposal calls for 16 apartments on the building’s upper floors and a restaurant and lounge in the former Foot Locker space at street level. The paper reported that the main storefront would largely stay intact while interior space is reconfigured for housing, and noted its coverage of the project was published June 1, 2026.
City Approval And Project Team
City staff recommended approval of the project, with the caveat that the developer provide more detail on replacement window products, and the commission unanimously adopted a Certificate of Appropriateness, according to the Historic Preservation Commission minutes. The public record lists Amit Ray as the applicant, Richam LLC as the owner and Keith Schultz as the architect. The minutes describe plans to replace a non-historic fire escape, source narrow-line windows that match the original steel sashes and enclose a loading dock with a security garage door.
Building History And Property Details
The Wisconsin Historical Society's architecture and history inventory identifies the property as the Sylvester Wabiszewski/Waldheim & Co. Building, constructed in 1927 and listed as a contributing resource in the West Mitchell Street commercial district. A listing on LoopNet shows the multi-tenant block includes roughly 21,000 square feet of retail space and multiple storefronts, a layout brokers say is well suited to a street-level restaurant. Yellow Pages listings show a Foot Locker at 1135 W. Historic Mitchell St. in recent years, the same street-level space the proposal would repurpose for food-service use.
What’s Next For The Project
The Certificate of Appropriateness clears the way for exterior changes, but the owner still needs building permits, health department approvals and any required licenses before work can start. The commission also directed the applicant to submit additional window product details to staff before construction proceeds, according to the Historic Preservation Commission minutes. The proposal lands amid a broader wave of private filings and leasing activity on Mitchell Street, including recent retail and bank applications highlighted in local reporting about a Dollar Tree site in play for a potential Bank of America branch.
