A mixed-use development is being planned at the former headquarters site of Reinders Inc. in Elm Grove, according to several commercial real estate sources. The company, a landscaping supplies distributor, consolidated its operations and moved its headquarters to Sussex in 2011.
The property is owned by R&R Investments, said Reinders president Craig Reinders. He said Reinders Inc. is not involved in any development project planned for the site.
“We have nothing to do with this,” Reinders said.
Reinders said he does not know who the members of R&R Investments are.
“Some of them may have the last name of Reinders,” he said.
Casey Griffiths, zoning and planning administrator for Elm Grove, said the property owners had preliminary talks with village officials early this year about a development project at the company’s former headquarters site. Recently, the village has been contacted by three architects seeking information about the property and the approval process for a development there, he said.
R&R owns about 9 acres north of Watertown Plank Road between Elm Grove Road and a rail line, Reinders said. The site has several buildings occupied by office and retail tenants including the Mill Place, Elm Building and Plank Road Plaza buildings.
The site also has about five acres of vacant land, Griffiths said.
The property ownership group has not submitted any formal development plans yet for the site, Griffiths said.
Some Milwaukee-based developers said they have been contacted about doing a project at the site. One developer said a Milwaukee-based developer and a Madison-based developer were working on a project at the site.
A major component of the project would be multi-family residential development. Village ordinances allow a maximum of 22 housing units per acre, Griffiths said. The property owners have said they would like a project with a higher density than that, which would require an amendment to the village building code, he said.
