Urban Milwaukee17%
The Police, Not A Bar, Will Replace Duke’s on Water 1%
By Jeramey Jannene19%
8/5/2026, 3:16:04 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 0 faulty reasoning types, including no named faulty reasoning patterns yet, with no single egregious example has been isolated yet. Analysis detected 0 faulty-reasoning hits from 452 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 0% and a BS Rank of 1% (27,558 of 27,714 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 99.40% of the article peer group.
Duke’s on Water.
Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The Milwaukee Police Department is trying something new to combat violence on Water Street: It’s moving in.
According to an occupancy permit, MPD is leasing 1,150 square feet of space that was formerly occupied by Duke’s on Water .
The department will operate a “24/7” location at the building, the permit says, but does not disclose what MPD will use the space for.
MPD did not respond to a request for comment.
Duke’s closed in May after a two-decade run in the space, but it had already been sold by the original owners in 2024 .
The attached bar, known as Scooter’s until the 2024 sale, when it was rebranded as Varsity , also closed.
MPD will not be taking over the Varsity space and explicitly states in its occupancy request that it will close the opening between the two establishments.
The city has considered several steps in the past year to reduce violence in the bar district, including fencing off the area and banning food trucks , the latter of which is embroiled in a lawsuit.
For many years, it has closed the street to vehicles on weekends, reduced the availability of nearby parking, restricted scooter use and increased the number of officers present through its Code RED (Responsible Entertainment Districts) program.
But the city has had limited success in stemming issues commonly attributed to loiterers, some of whom are underage and do not enter the bars themselves.
Department officials have openly discussed with council members plans to strictly enforce a youth curfew, but concerns were raised about the time necessary to transport individuals to the department’s District One station on the west side of Downtown.
The occupancy request does not indicate any intent to modify the bar to create holding cells.
According to city assessment records, the property at 1207 N.
Water St. is owned by Andrea Shafton and managed by Bieck Management.
Shafton is one of the original owners of Duke’s.
But two sources familiar with the deal indicate that an entity affiliated with Kendall Breunig has purchased the property and offered the space to MPD as part of an attempt to abate violence.
Breunig, an engineer and real estate investor, serves on the Milwaukee School of Engineering ‘s Board of Regents.
The university owns multiple properties on the east side of Water Street, directly across from the bar district.
Breunig has publicly represented the university in multiple council committee meetings.
He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A transaction does not appear in state real estate transfer records.
The upper floors of the four-story building include 18 apartments.
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