Wisconsin Right Now

The Rock's developer refused to make a "good faith" effort to meet community benefits requirements and goals that were outlined in the 2018 development agreement between Milwaukee County and the developer, documents obtained by Wisconsin Right Now show. However, the development agreement doesn't have much teeth, so all the county could do was make the Rock forfeit $10,000 and ban the developer from working on county projects for three years, the documents reveal. In August 2023, an update to a 2021 Milwaukee County audit revealed that the “developer has submitted letter to the county demonstrating their intent to provide no further community benefits reporting and has agreed to forfeit their $10,000 deposit and forgo doing business with Milwaukee County for three years.” The community benefits angle comes as several county supervisors said in a committee meeting last week that they want Milwaukee County to consider legal action against the Rock because of lon...

Mike Zimmerman, the developer of the Rock sports and entertainment complex in Franklin, is blaming "emotional" Milwaukee County Supervisors for "legal threats" relating to noise concerns and warned that any legal action against his facility "would be very expensive for them and taxpayers." The supervisors who made the comments are Patti Logsdon, Deanna Alexander, and Kathleen Vincent. We asked Zimmerman for comment after several Milwaukee County Supervisors said they want to write resolutions urging legal action against the Rock and/or consider rescinding the Rock's development agreement because they say long-standing noise problems have not been addressed for years. People who live in the residential neighborhoods around the Rock told County supervisors and Wisconsin Right Now that the noise from the Rock is destroying their quality of life. A new sound study found a host of concerns, accusing the Rock of having inoperable sound monitors an...