South Milwaukee grant helps turn vacant building into yoga studio

A South Milwaukee grant program is helping turn a vacant building into a community-focused yoga studio, adding another occupied space to a downtown district that city leaders have been trying to strengthen. The project fits the city’s broader push to bring steady foot traffic back to older commercial blocks and give residents a local wellness option in a space that was sitting empty.

The Bucyrus New Business Grant Program provides one-time assistance to new and existing businesses opening a new location or expanding in a vacant commercial space on Milwaukee Avenue between the 800 and 1300 blocks. City materials say the companion Bucyrus Storefront Activation Grant Program is designed to encourage redevelopment of older commercial buildings as vibrant commercial spaces in the traditional downtown district, and the city says many of those buildings may not comply with modern building codes, making renovation help especially important.

That local incentive structure sits inside a much larger investment tied to South Milwaukee’s industrial past. Bucyrus Steam Shovel & Dredge Co. was headquartered in South Milwaukee for 118 years, until 2011, and the Bucyrus Foundation committed $10 million to the city in September 2021 through annual $1 million donations over 10 years. The city and foundation later outlined downtown investments in a November 2, 2022 press release, after the city partnered with Downtown Strategies in May 2022 on a five-year strategic plan for Downtown South Milwaukee.

The same redevelopment pattern is already visible in the city’s 2024 economic development report, which lists grant-backed projects including a proposed artist studio and classes at 914 Milwaukee and storefront activation interior grants for projects at 305 N. Chicago, 920 Milwaukee and 1229 Milwaukee. City façade grant guidance says the program is aimed at helping property owners attract retail businesses to vacant locations and promote commercial vitality, a goal that now includes wellness businesses as part of the district’s everyday mix.

For the yoga studio, the grant support helps turn an underused property into something more durable than a one-off tenant. A community-facing studio can draw repeat visits across the day, serve residents who might not think of themselves as typical yoga customers and make the building part of the neighborhood’s routine again. In South Milwaukee, that means the revival of one vacant address is being treated as public infrastructure as much as private business.