A smattering of development projects are moving forward in Waukesha County, while other high-profile plans are stalled on the drawing board because of the recession and tight credit markets.
One of the largest projects planned in the county is Percheron Square, planned for the Ruby Farm property, located northwest of Interstate 94 and Calhoun Road. The lead developer for the project is VK Development Group. The project would include 650,000 square feet of office space. Outlook Development Group of Muskego plans to add five two-story buildings that include underground parking, to the property. The buildings would feature 88,200 square feet of retail space on the ground floors and around 70,000 square feet of office space on the second floors. VK Development also plans to add 295 condo and apartment units to the property.
VK Development Group has received general plan approval and rezoning from the City of Brookfield, but still needs approval from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Department of Natural Resources for the project, said Dan Ertl, director of community development for Brookfield.
The Percheron Square project would also include a 126-room Marriott SpringHill Suites hotel, which would be built by Endeavor Development.
Another hotel development is planned in Brookfield. Pittsburgh-based Oxford Development plans to build a 129-room Hyatt Summerfield Suites on a three-acre site at 555 S. Executive Drive.
Meanwhile, the ambitious Deer Creek Inn & Conference Center project, which includes a 405-room hotel, waterpark and conference center, southwest of Greenfield Avenue and Moorland Road in New Berlin, is on hold, as the developer is waiting to receive Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) approval to remove a portion of a flood plain during construction, said Gregory Kessler, director of community development New Berlin.
“The application was received by FEMA in December and is in the process of getting approved,” Kessler said. “We expect to hear back from them in February early March, and then the city can issue a building permit.”
In Oconomowoc, the plans for a 1 million-square-foot regional mall as part of the Pabst Farms development at I-94 and Highway 67 have been stalled by the economic downturn that is forcing retailers to scale back, not expand.
“We are still in the initial approval stages, but we hope to begin construction soon and have the initial portion of the town center open in fall of 2010,” said Dan Warren, Pabst Farms development manager. Recently, some Oconomowoc officials have expressed concern that Pabst Farms regional mall will not have the upscale tenants that were originally promised for the project.
However, some pieces of the Pabst Farms development are making progress. For example, a new 132-room Staybridge Suites hotel is expected to open at Pabst Farms this spring. The development is also building multi-tenant light industrial buildings.
RedPrarie Corp.’s decision to remain in its current facility in the Town of Brookfield has halted plans that would have been one of Milwaukee area’s largest commercial developments in 2009. Last October, RedPrairie announced plans to lease a 120,000-square-foot building that developer Rob Gerbitz and his partners planned to build south of 1-94 in Delafield. The building was supposed to anchor a 25-acre RedPrairie Technology Park. However, RedPrairie recently changed course and signed a 10-year lease to remain at the Crossroads Corporate Center in the Town of Brookfield.
Retail development has slowed in the county considerably, but Wal-Mart plans to build new stores in Waukesha and Muskego, and Janesville-based Woodman’s Food Markets plans to build a new store in Menomonee Falls on a site northwest of North 124th Street and Leon Road near U.S. Highways 41/45.
