Midtown data center proposed for Midtown Milwaukee

A vacant former Walmart store on Milwaukee’s northwest side is under consideration for redevelopment that would include a small data center, indoor self-storage and a relocated public library branch.

The property, near W. 60th St. and W. Capitol Drive, was purchased in 2022 by AFS Milwaukee LLC. The site includes a 160,000-square-foot vacant building and a surface parking lot. The City Plan Commission last month approved a residential development plan for the parking lot north of W. Hope Ave. The current proposal addresses the building itself.

Under the plan, approximately 19,000 square feet — less than 20% of the original store’s footprint — would be converted into a data processing and computer research facility. The remainder of the building would house indoor self-storage, the relocated Capitol Drive Library branch and at least one additional city use.

Neither the data center nor the storage facility are permitted under the site’s existing zoning, requiring City Plan Commission approval before construction could begin.

The project is limited in scope compared to large-scale artificial intelligence training campuses proposed elsewhere in Wisconsin. Developers describe the facility as a general computing and research center. It would rely on conventional air conditioning rather than the industrial evaporative cooling systems associated with large AI campuses. On-site generators would provide backup power. Noise levels, according to the proposal, would be comparable to a standard HVAC system.

Milwaukee has 25 data centers in the region, including a 46,000-square-foot facility at W. 31st St. and W. Highland Ave. owned by Potawatomi Ventures — more than twice the size of the proposed center.

Affordable housing remains part of the broader redevelopment plan, proposed for the parking lot north of the building.

The City Plan Commission removed the proposal from its Monday agenda. It was not immediately clear when the item would be rescheduled.

Public documents related to the project are available through the City of Milwaukee’s Legistar portal.

Editor’s note: context and some information for this article was sourced in part from Rick Banks, the co-founder of MKE Black, a local organization that celebrates and promotes Black owned business, events, culture, and advancement in Milwaukee.