With a $75 million renovation plan on the shelf, officials at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee are exploring several new options for increasing revenue, including the leasing of some of its surrounding property for development.
In addition, the Bradley Center board has hired a concessions consultant to recommend food upgrades in the concessions stands and in the luxury suites, and arena officials are exploring adding more retail outlets in the building, as well.
Without making major structural changes to the building, we are seeking ways to increase revenue, said Ulice Payne, president of the Bradley Center board.
The board that oversees the facility, which opened in 1988, previously had proposed a $75 million plan to revamp the building. Those plans called for reconstructing the seating bowl, improving sight lines and adding as much as 95,000 square feet of space. The project had been proposed as way to increase revenue for the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the teams new lease with the Bradley Center.
In recent months, however, U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, who owns the Bucks, said he is willing to sign a new eight-year lease without any major improvements to the building. After that lease expires, Kohl and other community leaders have said a new building should be considered.
The Bucks current lease is set to expire Sept. 30.
In the meantime, Payne said the Bradley Center board wants to continue to improve its cash flow.
The real estate options are primarily parking lot development plans. On the concessions front, Payne said the board has hired Chris Bigelow, president of Kansas City-based concessions consultancy The Bigelow Cos., to recommend upgrades of the menus in the buildings concessions stands and luxury suites. Bigelow has conducted similar studies for the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Bigelow attended the Bucks playoff games at the Bradley Center this spring and is preparing a report, Payne said.
If we can upgrade the quantity and quality of the food, it would bring about a higher yield, Payne said. And in the suites, we can get people to go from spending $10 or so a person to $12 a person, that will positively impact our bottom line.
Payne said negotiations continue on the Bucks lease. The team pays no rent and receives 27.5 percent of total gross receipts from concessions other than programs, merchandise, and food and beverage sales in the centers suites. The team receives 13.75 percent of gross revenue from food and beverage sales from the suites at all Bradley Center events.
Mark Kass writes for The Business Journal in Milwaukee, an affiliated publication.