Community members are using the spaces in ThriveOn King that they made suggestions on during the building’s visioning sessions, making the building’s first floor come alive with activity.
“I think, overall, people are just really thrilled that they had so much input into this and that it really has turned out really to be pretty well-aligned to what we planned,” said Cydney Key, senior director of ThriveOn guest experiences and strategic partnerships.
The ThriveOn Collaboration, made up by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Medical College of Wisconsin and Royal Capital, led the historic redevelopment of ThriveOn King, the former Gimbels-Schuster’s department store, into a community hub at 2153 N. Martin Luther King Drive.
The foundation and Medical College moved into ThriveOn King’s administrative floors last spring, followed by first-floor tenants JobsWork MKE and Versiti on King in the summer as construction finished. Kinship Café started serving food by early October, and Malaika Early Learning Center, the last first-floor tenant, opened earlier this year.
“All of those things are areas that we heard from the community that they want to have,” said Janel Hines, vice president of community impact for the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
Community spaces in action
The first floor of ThriveOn King features a corridor of artwork and installations along the building’s preserved department store windows, meeting rooms, tables and desks in the main hall, a large event room and a stage.
There are also additional desks and work space in the mezzanine area.
“Our partnership prioritizes social cohesion and health and wellness, so we welcome and encourage people to gather in the ample community spaces at ThriveOn King,” said Dr. Staci Young, senior associate dean for community engagement, director of the Office of Community Engagement and faculty director for the ThriveOn Collaboration at the Medical College.
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation also is opening up its meeting rooms to be reserved by community groups and nonprofits.
“We want this space to be a community space, not just an office space, but where we have partnership and collaboration and convening beyond just the work that we do,” Hines said.
What’s to come?
ThriveOn King’s 90 residential units on floors three to six are still under construction and are expected to be completed this spring, Key said.
The units will be a mix of affordable and market housing, with some intended for those 55 and older and students in the Medical College’s health equity scholars program.
An online reservation system for the meeting rooms and a community calendar also are in the works, according to Key.
To use the space
ThriveOn King is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and closed on Sunday.
To reserve a meeting room on ThriveOn King’s first floor, groups should email Zipporah Turnbull at zturnbull@greatermilwaukeefoundation.org. To use the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s meeting spaces on the fourth floor, fill out this meeting reservation form.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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