Licenses committee renews Casablancas tavern license with warning; Keefe warehouse matter left open

The Licenses Committee voted Nov. 6 to renew Casablanca Restaurant LLCs Class B tavern and related licenses for agent Ala I. Musa while issuing a formal warning and holding a separate police-referred matter connected to 900'910 East Keefe open for further review.

The committees action followed hours of testimony from Milwaukee Police Department officers, Department of Neighborhood Services inspectors and neighborhood witnesses about incidents at properties tied by investigators to the licensed agent.

Why it matters: committee members said they were weighing the agents long-standing operation of Casablanca on Brady Street against testimony that police and building inspectors presented about a separate warehouse complex at 900'910 East Keefe. That property was the site of a December 31, 2024 unpermitted event that MPD described as an assembly-like gathering; officers showed body-worn camera footage and said one arrest was made after an altercation during police entry. The Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) reported that inspectors found unsafe, occupied residential-style rooms in a tower at the Keefe complex and had issued a placard deeming portions unsafe; DNS and DNR testing have found trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination in areas of the complex, and some portions have mitigation in place while other areas remain untested or unsafe.

The committees decision: Alderman Peter Bergelis moved the renewal with a formal warning letter and to hold the MPD-referred item (item 18, a pending criminal case linked by MPD to the Keefe incident) open to the call of the chair. The motion passed on a committee roll call; the committee instructed licensing staff to accept notification from the agent when he completes an agreed plan to remove/relocate equipment and unwind operations at the Keefe site.

What speakers said (selected): - "I shouldn't have allowed it to happen in the first place," agent Ala I. Musa said when asked about the Dec. 31 event and his role in permitting access to the Keefe site. - "What you'll see through numerous videos and things of that nature... is that we should not be giving this applicant a license," Assistant City Attorney Nathaniel Adamson told the committee as MPD presented its objections. - "The Department of Natural Resources has reported that trichloroethylene (TCE) is the contamination in that facility," Lori Gallup, DNS special enforcement and residential code manager, testified about the Keefe sites' environmental status.

Key facts and outcomes - File: 251157, renewal of Casablanca Restaurant LLCs Class B (tavern), public entertainment premises and related licenses. - Police evidence shown: body-worn camera video from a 12/31/2024 entry to 900/910 E. Keefe; officers described a large, unpermitted gathering, a scuffle and an arrest. MPD also reviewed prior incidents dating to 2024 at addresses linked in investigators accounts. - DNS findings: a special inspection warrant and subsequent inspection on Aug. 20, 2025 led to placarding of a tower area for life-safety hazards (blocked egress, inoperable fire alarm, unsafe wiring, plumbing problems) and ongoing enforcement; DNS reported that some sub-slab vapor mitigation was installed for limited occupancies but other portions remain unpermitted or unmitigated. - Committee action: license renewed; formal warning issued to the licensee; MPD item 18 (the pending criminal case connected to a Keefe-area shooting/incident) was held open to the call of the chair for further review and returned to the committee for follow-up.

What the committee asked for next - The committee requested the licensed agent notify licensing staff in writing when he completes the plan to liquidate or remove equipment and unwind operations at 900'910 E. Keefe. DNS and MPD were asked to continue coordinating follow-up with other enforcement partners.

Context and limits of the record: The committees renewal decision was narrowly focused on the licenses for Casablanca Restaurant LLC under agent Ala I. Musa. The record documents MPD and DNS concerns about a separate property (900/910 East Keefe) to which the agent has ties; committee members emphasized they had to weigh those concerns against Casablancas operational record on Brady Street and the legal standards that govern issuance and renewal of alcohol licenses. The committee expressly left a police-referred matter open rather than resolving it in this proceeding; that case may return to committee after further court or enforcement developments.

Next steps: the licensing office will file the committees warning letter in the license record and note the requirement that the agent update staff on the Keefe unwinding plan; MPDs item 18 remains open pending court and investigative developments.