Irgens Partners’ plans to
build a public market at the former Boston Store site at Brookfield Square mall have changed again.
The Wauwatosa-based development firm has updated its proposal for the Brookfield Public Market to now include 15 vendors, an anchor tenant, a demonstration kitchen, community gathering spaces to rent and a cocktail lounge, according to
Dan Ertl, community development director for the city of Brookfield.
The project originally featured an atrium with room for 12 vendors, two larger retail spaces and an outdoor event space, according to letters submitted to Brookfield’s Community Development Authority.
Along with a structural redesign, the project’s financing has changed. Irgens’ development partner
Visit Brookfield, which will own and operate the market when it opens, is asking for $14.9 million in TIF for the development, down over $1 million from the original proposal. Visit Brookfield has committed $1.5 million of its own investment to the project.
Irgens is asking the city for $4.5 million in TIF to support site remediation which will include design and engineering services, site excavation and grading utility repairs and replacement and sanitary sewer interceptor improvements. The development team is also seeking a $250,000 grant from the
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
The project’s new proposal was brought in front of Brookfield’s Plan Commission on Monday and was endorsed unanimously. In September, the project will be brought in front of to the city’s Common Council, Ertl said.
“The larger community will benefit from this (development),” Ertl said. “The project is a step towards the transformation of Brookfield Square into what it once was: a strong commercial asset for the city and county.”
Brookfield Square has been the target of redevelopment in the city for the last several years. Step one of the project was the
redevelopment of the mall’s south end, which now features large tenants like Whirleyball, a Marcus theater and the Brookfield Conference Center. Step two includes the redevelopment of the north end, which was formerly home to a Boston Store. Step three will include the redevelopment of the core mall space, which is owned by Chattanooga, Tennessee-based
CBL Properties.
No plans have been made yet to redesign the core mall space, but the city is hopeful its owners propose something soon, Ertl said.
