Proposed beer garden won’t be constructed

NEW LONDON – A proposed beer garden at the intersection of Wolf River Avenue and Smith Street to be developed by Der Wolf Garten, LLC will not be constructed due to the lapse of the developer’s agreement.
New London City Administrator Chad Hoerth informed the New London Economic Development Committee at its June 23 meeting about the lapse of the developer’s agreement.
Hoerth told the committee that the developer’s agreement had called for the developer to begin construction on the property by the end of 2025. No construction has been done yet.
The city had owned the property prior to the developer’s agreement but sold the property to Der Wolf Garten. No money was exchanged in the sale, as the city provided a development incentive grant that covered the purchase. Hoerth reminded the committee that there was a “claw back” clause included in the developer’s agreement, which allows the city to take the property back if the development did not occur as the timeline indicated.
“I have had conversations with the owner, Kim (Chonos) of Der Wolf Garten, and we’re both in agreement that we will work on the process to deed the property back to the city,” Hoerth said.

He added, “But I want to make it crystal clear that even though that the plans didn’t work at the time, Kim is still very interested in being involved in the future project and the future development of that area.”
Committee member Hans Thompson recommended that the city contact the Milwaukee Parks Department to obtain information about the leasing program it does for beer gardens.
Ald. Tim Roberts said the city needs to decide how it wants to develop that piece of property.
“Do we want to market it for another developer to come in and build?” Roberts asked.
Hoerth recommended that that piece of property be included in the overall development plan for that area of the riverfront.
“I think that’s our opportunity there to really incorporate some type of tourism riverfront destination,” Hoerth said.
Thompson said in Milwaukee, the city leases out a beer garden building located in a park to a business.
“They (business) come in, they run it, they make the money off of it, but the city or parks department is paid for the lease,” Thompson said. “The thing that I kind of like about that idea is it offers us flexibility for how we want the space used. Also, if things are going not quite the way we expected, we can address that with the leaseholders.”
Multiple delays
The original developer’s agreement between the city and Der Wolf Garten for the construction of a beer garden was recommended for approval by the committee on Dec. 10, 2024. The New London Common Council approved the agreement on Dec. 17, 2024. The original developer’s agreement stated that development of the property would need to start by July 1, 2025, with a completion date of Dec. 31, 2025.
In May of 2025, Chonos asked the city for an extension of the timeline for the project due to her father-in-law being diagnosed with prostate cancer. The city agreed to extend the timeline, with a new completion date of July 1, 2026, for the project.
Sonos addressed the Economic Development Committee at its Sept. 23, 2025, meeting, informing the committee why development of the property had not started yet. At that meeting, the committee authorized Hoerth to renegotiate the terms of the developer’s agreement with Sonos, including an extension. That renegotiated agreement was to be brought back to the committee.