Glendale prepares to serve as headquarters for MPD for 2024 Republican National Convention

Glendale is moving forward with plans to use a vacant 47,000-square foot space in the city as the Milwaukee Police Department’s headquarters for the 2024 Republican National Convention.

Monday evening, the Glendale Common Council directed staff to schedule a public hearing to consider owner Brian Monroe’s request for a development plan and development agreement for the building at 4160 N. Port Washington Road.

The approvals would allow MPD to use the space as its headquarters for the convention, including training and hosting officers from around the state.

The public hearing will likely take place in January, Mayor Bryan Kennedy said at the meeting.

“We're going to have the safest place in the whole region during the RNC,” Kennedy said.

If approved at the council’s meeting in January, MPD will occupy the space starting that month through July 2024, although the convention itself will take place in Milwaukee July 15 through 18.

Why was Glendale selected for the MPD headquarters?

Mayor Bryan Kennedy said the building has ample office and parking spaces for the estimated 4,500 police officers from all over the state who will likely congregate in Glendale for training, security purposes, and communications.

The location would also be less expensive and more accessible for MPD to use as a hub than a location downtown where the convention will occur, Kennedy said, since areas within the perimeter of the convention are going to be sealed off and harder to get in and out of.

“They will be able to hop right on Capitol Drive and, with their sirens going, be downtown in five minutes,” Kennedy said.

City Administrator Karl Warwick said many RNC delegates will also be staying in Glendale hotels.

In an email to the Journal Sentinel, MPD said, "We are still in the process of determining which locations we may use during the RNC. There is not further information at this time."

Space is 'already geared up for office use, so it was perfect'

The Milwaukee Police Department in April put out a request for proposals to find a suitable space to serve as its headquarters for the RNC.

While reading the request, Monroe realized that Beerline Crossing, LLC’s facility met the requirements MPD was asking for. Beerline Crossing, LLC is a joint venture between Endeavour Development and Earthbound Development, LLC, which Monroe is managing partner of.

Previously, the 47,000-square-foot space was leased to the Department of Corrections after it was converted into offices.

“The space is already geared up for office use, so it was perfect,” Monroe said. “But to anticipate that we would win this (RFP), we wanted to make sure we would have everything in place.”

At its April 10 meeting, the Common Council approved a development agreement and rezoning of the parcel for prospective buyer, Meta House, a nonprofit dedicated to treating women with substance abuse.

But on July 19, a Meta House representative informed the city it was no longer pursuing purchase of the property due to a breakdown in negotiations with the property owner.

Currently, the property’s zoning classification doesn’t allow for any uses due to the lack of an approved specific development plan and development agreement. Monroe is requesting the council approve development plans in its process of pursuing a development agreement, which will enable land use.

Along with the MPD headquarters, Beerline Crossing requested permission to add fencing, on-site security systems and to use the second floor as a exercise and physical therapy center under Health & Performance Collaborative, LLC.

After the July 2024 convention, Beerline Crossing will use the space for climate-controlled storage and for an electric vehicle factory repair center.

Contact Claudia Levens at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @levensc13.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee police could use space in Glendale as headquarters for RNC