{image1}Right now, it's an abandoned building that's virtually unnoticed, but in a year from now, it'll be one of Milwaukee's hottest coffee hubs.

This September, Alterra Coffee plans to have workers make major renovations to the existing building at 2941-63 N. Humboldt Blvd. and eventually create a dramatically different structure featuring a café, roaster, production bakery and offices.

Currently, the bakery and office spaces are in a building across the street from the Prospect Avenue café, which will still also serve as a roasting location.

Paul Miller, who owns the business with brothers Lincoln and Ward Fowler, says they will build upward on the existing building.

"We're going to raise the roof," he says.

Like the Prospect shop, Humboldt's environment will be open and airy, with the roaster in full view.

"It will be different from our other cafes, but we're still defining exactly how," says Miller. "It will be factory-like, similar to the Prospect café, but the bakery in the background will add a twist."

The new space, which is 33,000 square feet, will also house the "Bikes for Tykes" project, a job-training program that's a partnership between Alterra and the Holton Street Youth Center. "Bikes" teaches young people how to refurbish and repair old bikes and donates them to urban kids.

This summer Alterra plans to buy the Humboldt Boulevard building from the city, break ground in early fall and open in June 2005.

"We're really excited about moving to such a committed, diverse community," says Miller. "Plus, Humboldt continues to grow as a corridor to the city, connecting the north and south."

According to Miller, the new location will be Alterra's biggest undertaking yet, and they plan to provide a unique venue that's appropriate for Riverwest.

"I see it as a neighborhood place that's not work, not school and not home," he says. "It's somewhere in between."