Committee approves Third Space Brewing license and seasonal beer-garden lease after debate over sales reporting

The West Allis Economic Development Committee voted to approve an application from Third Space Brewing LLC for full-service retail sales at 1540 South 62nd Street and adopted a resolution to authorize a seasonal lease for a beer garden at Liberty Heights Park.

Committee members spent the bulk of the discussion on how the city should verify sales that determine the contract fee. One member described two approaches in the agreement: a tiered fee system based on reported revenue ranges, or requiring exact sales figures to determine the fee tier. “We don’t really care exactly how much you’re doing now, but it does open up the question of…we're not setting a precedent,” a member said, arguing for self-reporting tiers used only for this contract.

Supporters of keeping exact sales data said some large events and vendors have used city-owned registers and that daily figures have been reported in other contexts. Others raised privacy and administrative-burden concerns. The committee noted that each vending or tenancy contract will be negotiated separately, so the structure chosen for Third Space would not automatically apply to future agreements.

After discussion, a motion to approve the license and the seasonal lease, with the reporting arrangement as presented in the agenda packet, was moved and carried. The committee emphasized that the contract language can be revisited for future tenancies and that separate negotiations will govern other vendors.

The committee completed the Third Space items and moved on to other business.