The Hop costs Milwaukee taxpayers $4 million annually
The Hop streetcar arrives at The Couture on Milwaukee’s lakefront
The Couture apartment high-rise became part of The Hop loop when it opened a station on the streetcar line.
The Hop is back in the news with Alderman Scott Spiker’s call for shutting down the city-operated streetcar.
Spiker says The Hop is costing Milwaukee taxpayers around $4 million annually. That could be better used to help pay for street repairs, libraries, public safety and other services, he says.
The Hop’s defenders include Common Council members Robert Bauman and Peter Burgelis. They say its benefits include a boost for downtown property values − with that property tax revenue helping fund city services.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contacted several downtown developers for their take on The Hop debate. Here’s what to know:
The Hop doesn’t charge fares
Spiker says The Hop is an “albatross” around the city’s neck and provides transportation for “the unhoused and well-heeled.”
The streetcar has a projected 2026 operating cost of $6.9 million, according to Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s proposed $2 billion budget. The Hop doesn’t charge for rides, but has sponsorship, advertising and grant revenue totaling $2.7 million − with city taxpayers providing around $4 million.
Meanwhile, The Hop has seen the highest number of August and September riders since its 2018 launch.
Its route features a 2.1-mile main line running between Burns Commons, 1300 N. Franklin Place, through downtown and the Historic Third Ward to the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, 433 W. St. Paul Ave. A 0.4-mile lakefront loop connects the main line to the Couture apartment high-rise, 909 E. Michigan St.
Mayor Johnson hopes to expand The Hop. But that would require federal grants while President Donald Trump has targeted transit funding cuts.
Downtown helps fund citywide services
Downtown development plays a big role in helping pay for public services throughout the city.
Parcels covered by the Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District, which excludes the Historic Third Ward, make up 0.9% of the city’s area, but provide 9.9% of Milwaukee’s property tax base, according to assessment data analyzed by the Department of City Development.
When that’s expanded to include parcels within one-quarter mile of The Hop, those shares are 1.6% and 13.6%, respectively.
Couture’s development tied to The Hop
The Couture, a $191 million tower with 322 apartments and 42,600 square feet of commercial space, opened in 2024. It includes a transit concourse for the streetcar’s lakefront loop and buses.
Mayor Tom Barrett’s administration in 2014 proposed using cash from three downtown-area tax incremental financing districts, including one at the Couture, to supplement federal grants helping finance the streetcar’s construction.
The Common Council in 2015 approved the plan. It uses property tax revenue from the Couture and other new commercial developments within the tax financing districts.
The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature in 2023 barred Milwaukee from using tax financing districts to help pay for streetcar expansions.
Transit concourse helped advance Couture
Barrett Lo Visionary Development LLC needed to buy the Couture site, a former Milwaukee County bus facility, at a deep discount to help make the project feasible, according to the county’s consulting firm, Chicago-based S.B. Friedman & Co.
But, the county was on the hook to pay $6.7 million to the Federal Transit Administration if it didn’t sell the property at market value. That’s because the agency helped finance the bus facility with a 1988 grant.
So, then-city Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux suggested Barrett Lo redesign the Couture to include a transit concourse for the streetcar’s lakefront loop.
That meant the county didn’t have to pay back the federal grant because the Couture site’s sale proceeds were used for another transit project. Barrett Lo bought the 2.2-acre county site for $500,000.
High-rise developers praise The Hop
Barrett Lo CEO and founder Rick Barrett said The Hop has been a catalyst for the Couture and other downtown developments. He said it helps connect people with downtown businesses, attractions and the lakefront.
“We see that impact every day as tenants of the Couture use The Hop to connect their home to work and our great Milwaukee destinations,” Barrett said.
Thomas D’Arcy, senior managing director at Houston-based Hines, also praised the streetcar.
D’Arcy said The Hop “was absolutely a consideration” in Hines’ development of 333 Water, a 31-story, 333-unit apartment high-rise with 9,600 square feet of commercial space. It opened in 2024 at 333 N. Water St.
The streetcar “was an important part of our marketing to prospective residents” for the $165 million development, he said.
D’Arcy also said expensive parking structures for such projects increase traffic congestion and air pollution while reducing pedestrian safety. Streetcars, especially as they expand, are “the antidote to all of this,” he said.
Other developers weigh in
Some downtown developers either declined to comment or didn’t respond to an interview request.
Those include Northwestern Mutual, which is doing a $500 million downtown campus expansion; John Vassallo, a partner in the 100 East office tower’s $165 million conversion into 373 apartments; New Land Enterprises LLC, which in 2022 opened the $80 million, 259-unit Ascent high-rise, 700 E. Kilbourn Ave., and the $35 million, 251-unit Nova apartments in 2023 at 1237 N. Van Buren St., and Andy Inman, chief development officer at Middleton-based NCG Hospitality, which opened The Trade hotel, 420 W. Juneau Ave., in 2023 and has plans for two more downtown-area hotels.
Other developers said The Hop is an asset.
“We think that connective tissue is really important,” said Milwaukee Bucks and Fiserv Forum President Peter Feigin.
The basketball club’s newer Deer District developments include the $70 million, 4,500-person capacity Landmark Credit Union Live music venue, opening in February at 1051 N. Phillips Ave., and NCG Hospitality’s $50 million, 156-room Moxy Hotel, to begin construction in early 2026 between the venue and Fiserv Forum.
Feigin also is working with J. Jeffers & Co. on the 269-unit Fieldhouse Flats apartments, just east of The Trade. That $115.5 million development, to start construction in 2026, includes a new Milwaukee Area Technical College athletics facility.
Jeffers & Co. President and CEO Josh Jeffers said The Hop played a role in his decison to invest in downtown apartment developments, including Fieldhouse Flats and the upcoming $24.2 million conversion of the historic Mitchell Building, 207 E. Michigan St., into 60 units.
Jeffers & Co. also developed the Huron Building, a $50 million, 11-story office building that opened in 2020 at 511 N. Broadway.
It’s anchored by the Husch Blackwell law firm − which Jeffers said was drawn to the building in part because of nearby amenities, including The Hop.
Meanwhile, Mark Irgens, whose self-named firm opened the $137 million, 25-story BMO Tower office building, 790 N. Water St., in 2020, said The Hop is among downtown’s vital infrastructure investments.
“Smart transportation infrastructure increases value of private investment,” Irgens said. “It would be great to expand The Hop to allow easy access to important cultural, government and private investments.”
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Bluesky, X and Facebook.