Two entrepreneurs have formed a partnership and plan to build a $10 million, 128,000-square-foot sports complex in Sussex. The facility will be built on a 16-acre site south of Silver Spring Drive, east of Highway 74 and west of Town Line Road. The site is across the street from Templeton Middle School. It will include a 49,250-square-foot fieldhouse and a 21,500-square-foot fieldhouse.
It will have space for six basketball courts or 12 volleyball courts, temporary turf for soccer, touch football or baseball, a suspended track, removable padded floors and walls for wrestling, plus activity and meeting rooms.
The sports complex will be called Engage Sportsplex. Its target will be 6- to 17-year-olds and adults 55 and older. It will not be a health club. The primary focus for the complex will be to host league and tournament play for a variety of sports and other activities, including basketball, volleyball, soccer, touch football, kickball, dodgeball and cheerleading.
The facility will operate many of the leagues and tournaments, but it will also be available for rent to other sports leagues and tournaments. Teams could also rent the facility for practices.
Eventually, the partners plan to build similar facilities in 10 other Midwestern cities.
However, first, they need to obtain more investors to get their project in Sussex going.
One of the partners is David Mueller, who was the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Waukesha-based NCL Graphic Specialties Inc. from 1992-2006.
His partner is Jeffrey Olson, who formerly owned Olson Salt Services, a salt delivery service. Olson sold his company about two years ago. A passionate sports enthusiast, Olson wanted to start a sports-related business and talked Mueller into joining him.
“He’s the sports guy, and I’m the business guy,” Mueller said.
Mueller said he had the urge to start up a new company and after talking to Olson, he studied the viability of a for-profit sports complex. He determined that there is a significant demand for sports facilities for youth leagues and tournaments, but there are not enough facilities to meet that demand. In addition, he determined that there is a lack of athletic facilities appealing to older adults.
“If I didn’t feel extremely comfortable (with the business model), I wouldn’t have left a secure job,” Mueller said.
Mueller hopes adults 55 and older will be attracted to the facility’s running/walking track.
“We’re going after the mall walkers,” he said. “And then we will be able to expose them to the rest of the facility.”
The complex could host a variety of organized activities that would appeal to older adults, such as aerobics, pilates or yoga.
Mueller and Olson want to make sure their facility is distinguished from a health club, and they want it to appeal to youth leagues and older adults. Therefore, the facility will not have a weight room. It will have a concession area, but it will not have a bar or restaurant.
They want to operate most of the leagues and tournaments at the facility to make sure that athletes have a good experience there.
“We want to control the product,” Mueller said.
Mueller and Olson also plan to work with insurance companies to develop wellness programs for their largest clients, whose employees could use the facility.
“Where do the third-shifters go to play organized ball?” Mueller said.
The Sussex site is in a growing area of Waukesha County, with a large number of families within a short drive. The demand for sports facilities is so great that Mueller and Olson expect to draw athletes from Dodge, Washington, Ozaukee, Jefferson, Waukesha and Milwaukee counties.
“We are getting three to five calls a week from people looking for court time,” Mueller said. “We are also getting calls from school districts. There’s a huge underserved market.”
Mueller and Olson hope to break ground in May and have the facility open later this year. The architect and general contractor for the project is Menomonee Falls-based Wahlgren-Schwenn Inc.
They are seeking additional investors to help launch the project. Interested investors can contact Mueller at (414) 254-5037.
“We’re looking to raise capital for the equity side of things,” Mueller said. “I have commitments from several different banks in various forms. It’s the equity portion I need. We’re in the fundraising portion, trying to raise capital.”
Mueller and Olson are already making preliminary plans to open similar sports facilities in 10 other Midwestern cities within the next seven to 10 years. They are looking at building facilities in Green Bay, Eau Claire, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Nashville and Kansas City.
“I wouldn’t have left a six-figure job just to open up one sports complex,” Mueller said. “They’re having the same problems (with a lack of indoor sports facilities) in other markets.”
