Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has plans to significantly expand its presence throughout southeastern Wisconsin, pitting its low-cost grocery offerings against the region’s dominant grocer, Pick ‘n Save. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is opening two more stores in the region and is planning several additional stores and store expansions.
The company is scheduled to open two new stores in the area on March 7: a 183,917-square-foot store at 1220 Thiel St. in Hartford and a 187,000-square-foot store, southwest of I-43 and Highway 42 in the Town of Sheboygan. The Hartford store will have 425 employees, and the Sheboygan store will have 330 employees.
Both of the new stores are Wal-Mart Supercenter stores, which include grocery departments. The company no longer builds regular discount stores without grocery departments, said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Lisa Nelson.
“Sam Walton said the key to success is to give your customers what they want,” Nelson said. “Our customers want Supercenters.”
The Hartford store will be the first Wal-Mart location in that community. The Sheboygan store will be the second new Wal-Mart store that has opened in that community since 2006, replacing a regular Wal-Mart discount store at 609 S. Taylor Dr., which closed and remains vacant.
As part of the company’s plans to replace its regular discount stores, Wal-Mart is also planning to expand its stores on South 27th Street into Supercenter stores.
The company is working with city of Franklin officials on its plans to expand the store at 6701 S. 27th St. into a Supercenter store. Details of the expansion plans are still being worked out with city officials, Nelson said. A city official said the company has proposed a 64,900-square-foot addition to the 136,000-square-foot store, which would bring its total size to 205,632 square feet.
This spring, Wal-Mart plans to begin construction to expand the 137,742-square-foot store at 3355 S. 27th in the City of Milwaukee, adding 67,890 square feet of space and transforming it into a 205,632-square-foot Supercenter store.
Eventually, the company also wants to expand its three other discount stores in the City of Milwaukee into Supercenter stores, Nelson said. Those stores are located at 401 E. Capitol Dr., 5825 W. Hope Ave. (in Midtown Center) and at 8700 N. Servite Dr. (at Brown Deer Road and 85th Street).
Wal-Mart expansion plans often create controversy in the community, but the larger and nicer Supercenter stores will create more jobs and attract more shoppers, Nelson said.
“There are people living in the City of Milwaukee who leave to shop at another Wal-Mart (in the suburbs),” she said. “(The Supercenter stores) are where our customers prefer to shop.”
Wal-Mart is planning to build several other brand new Supercenter stores in southeast Wisconsin.
A 176,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter store and a 136,000-square-foot Sam’s Club store will anchor a 400,000-square-foot retail development that Chicago-based Bradford Real Estate Companies is building northwest of Green Bay Road and 38th Street in the Town of Somers, near Kenosha.
The future of the regular Wal-Mart discount store 4404 52nd St. in Kenosha is uncertain and Nelson said it will probably close.
“It would be unlikely that it will be kept open, but that is yet to be determined,” she said.
Similar to what the company did in Sheboygan, Wal-Mart had proposed a new 99,000-square-foot Supercenter store on the south side of Kenosha in addition to the Somers store, but Kenosha city officials rejected the south side proposal.
“We would love to build a Supercenter store in the city of Kenosha,” Nelson said. But the political opposition makes that unlikely, she said.
Wal-Mart is also planning to build new stores in Cudahy, Waukesha and Saukville.
In Cudahy, Menomonee Falls-based Continental Properties Co. Inc. plans to build a mixed-use development, which will include a 130,000-square-foot Wal-Mart store, on the site of the failed Iceport development. The development will also include a Milwaukee Wave indoor soccer training facility and may also include a hotel.
Wal-Mart wants to replace its regular discount store at W226 S1500 Highway 164 in the Town of Waukesha with a new Supercenter store in the City of Waukesha, Nelson said. The company has been working with Milwaukee-based Heartland Development Group Ltd. on building a store on a 32-acre former cement yard at West Avenue and Highway 59, but other sites are also being considered.
“Waukesha is an important area for us,” Nelson said. “We have a lot of customers there.”
The company also wants to build a Supercenter store in Saukville to replace its regular discount store at 825 E. Green Bay Ave. However the project has not been approved yet by village officials.
Sturtevant
Marilyn and Ray Biddle, the owners of Racine-based R&B Grinding Company Inc., plan to redevelop the vacant, 180,000-square-foot former Intermet Corp. building, located southwest of 90th Street and Charles Street. The state Department of Commerce recently announced that it is providing a $325,000 brownfield grant to RKB Enterprises LLC, an entity formed by the Biddles for the redevelopment project, to assist with the $1.91 million redevelopment. R&B Grinding and Angel Lithographing will occupy space in the building after it has been rehabilitated.
West Allis
International Autos plans to convert the former Infiniti dealership building into a new MINI Cooper dealership. The Infiniti dealership was moved to Waukesha. International Autos also plans to expand its Mercedes-Benz and BMW dealerships.
Waterford
People’s Bank, based in Elkhorn, has proposed a new stand-alone bank in Waterford at 4103 Buena Park Road. Tom Oehler, president and CEO of People’s Bank, said the bank aims to break ground on the new branch in mid-summer and hopes that it is open by the end of the year. “We’re excited about the community and the business and consumer opportunities that present themselves to us,” Oehler said. The new full-service branch will have seven to 10 employees. Oehler declined to say how large the new bank will be.
Grafton
Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Verizon Wireless recently opened its first “communications store” in a 2,132-square-foot space at 2512 Washington St. The store is the first in the U.S. using an interactive retail concept where customers can pick up and try more than 80 functioning wireless phones and experience various on-demand features.
The Wisconsin Veterinary Referral Center recently opened a second location in Grafton in a 4,400-square-foot space at 1381 Port Washington Road, in the Schmit’s Pavilion, across from the Home Depot store.
CREcommercial real estate Transactions
Leases
Gerald Nell Inc.
Ellison Technologies Inc. leased 8,500 square feet of industrial space at N27 W23910 Paul Road, Unit B, Pewaukee, from Charter Oak Investment.
S.J. Stream Creative LLC leased 985 square feet of office space at 2505 N. 124th St., Suite 215, Brookfield, from G&N Investment Company.
Heritage Investment Services leased 910 square feet of office space at 2505 N. 124th St., Suite 107, Brookfield, from G&N Investment Company.
Transtar Industries Inc. leased 10,000 square feet of industrial space at 3655 N. 126th St., Unit F, Brookfield, from Sunset Investment Co.
Grubb & Ellis|Apex Commercial
DDN/Obergfel LLC leased 15,764 square feet of office space at 800 Woodland Prime, Menomonee Falls, from 800 Woodland Prime LLC.
SleepMed Inc. leased 2,200 square feet of office space at 8825 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, from BFD Properties LLC.
Hygieneering Inc. leased 1,350 square feet of office space in the Curry Pierce Building at 400 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, from Curry Pierce Limited Partnership.
Judson & Associates
E&B Exercise LLC leased 4,077 square feet of space at 19275 Capitol Dr., Brookfield, from V.K. Development Corp.
S.J. Stream Creative LLC leased 965 square feet of space at 2505 N. 124th St., Suite 215, Brookfield, from G&N Investment Company.
C&C Recruiting and Consulting Inc. leased 1,266 square feet of space at 2831 N. Grandview Blvd., Suite 204, Waukesha, from William Hohnstein.
Achieve Mobility LLC leased 730 square feet of space at 1860 Executive Dr., Oconomowoc, from Walter Bohrer Living Trust.
Corey Herman and Matt Plakta leased 1,200 square feet of office space at 2111 West Ave., Unit 51, Waukesha, from Milwaukee Street Partners LLC.
Mid-America Real Estate
Elements Therapeutic Massage leased 1,678 square feet of space in Autumn Grove Plaza at 12850-960 W. Bluemound Road, Elm Grove, from Towne Realty Inc.
GNC leased 1,260 square feet of space in the Silvernail Shopping Center at 2116 Silvernail Road, Pewaukee, from Waukesha Retail LLC.
NAI MLG Commercial
Poochie Haven Inc. leased 8,292 square feet of industrial space at 3767 Scenic Road, Town of Polk, from Robert Schoenke.
Prudential Premier Properties
Impower Industries leased 4,500 square feet of space at Willow Point Plaza, 8501 75th St., Kenosha.
Siegel-Gallagher
Laughlin Constable leased 32,936 square feet of office space in the Mitchell Building at 207 E. Michigan St., Milwaukee, from Stonewater Partners.
Sales
The Boerke Company
TVT LLC purchased 40,000 square feet of industrial space at 3040 Highway 145 in the Town of Polk.
First Weber Group Commercial
Sung Kang purchased 20,450 square feet of retail space at 200 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, from the Plankinton Family Trust for $1.46 million.
Judson & Associates
Proverb LLC purchased 30,240 square feet of space at 206 Enterprise Dr., Delafield, from Cannes Group LLC.
Beccaty LLC purchased 14,400 square feet of space at W227 N913 Westmound Dr., Pewaukee, from Booth Lake Investments LLC.
Halewhit Properties LLC purchased 15,462 square feet of space at 1849 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Milwaukee, from Ring Building LLC.
Mid-America Real Estate
Bootleggers of Milwaukee purchased the former Mader’s Gallery building at 1023 N. Old World
Third St., Milwaukee.
NAI MLG Commercial
Old Dutch Snacks purchased a 12,500-square-foot industrial building at 1308 Poplar Dr., Waukesha, from IDI Distributors.
MSI Sussex II LLC purchased 8.47 acres in the Sussex Business Park in Sussex from MLG.
New construction
Briohn Building Corp., Brookfield, recently completed the design and construction of a 20,100-square-foot multi-tenant building for Fabrifast LLC in the Dodge Industrial Park in Hartford, and a 17,500-square-foot building for Scott’s Lawn Service at 820 Corporate Ct., Waukesha.
Selzer-Ornst Construction Co., Wauwatosa, recently completed construction of the new International Infiniti dealership on Highway 18 in Waukesha. The company is also renovating and expanding the Mercedes-Benz and BMW dealerships for International Autos in West Allis, and converting the former Infiniti building there into a MINI dealership. The company is also doing a office remodeling project for Professional Placement Services in downtown Milwaukee.
The Redmond Company, Waukesha, was selected to build a 118-room Staybridge Suties hotel in Franklin. The company was also selected to design and build the 3,700-square-foot remodeling of Port Washington State Bank’s Cedarburg branch, as well as an addition of a four-lane remote drive-up banking canopy. The company was also selected to design and build a Pyramax Bank branch in West Allis and a Johnson Bank branch in Brookfield.
Yaggy Colby Associates was awarded the architectural/engineering services contract by the Village of Sussex for its Police and Fire Building Expansion. The Village of Sussex is expanding its existing Fire Station to incorporate facilities for the Waukesha County Sheriff Department. The project includes a 4,000-square foot addition to the fire station for police needs.
Triad Construction Inc., West Allis, recently began the renovation and expansion of the Brookfield City Hall, located at 2000 N. Calhoun Road. The 8,000-square-foot renovation and addition includes the remodeling of the Building Inspection Department, the Permits Department, and the Engineering Department as well as a new 1,200-square-foot common gallery area which will provide better public access to all departments.
