Town of Brookfield administration Rick Czopp said Tuesday that negotiations with Milwaukee-based The Marcus Corp. about a tax incremental financing (TIF) agreement for The Corners are progressing and could be complete by the end of March or early April.
“We’re coming close to an agreement,” Czopp said. “I’m optimistic. There’s nothing that’s bad that’s going on. It just takes time. It’s a pretty complicated document. We’re still reviewing it. I’d say we’re pretty optimistic we’re going to get something done.”
Katie Falvey, director of real estate for The Marcus Corp., said today that she agrees with Czopp’s assessment of the TIF negotiations for The Corners.
“Rick’s comments were dead on,” she said. “It’s looking very, very good.”
The Corners is a 460,000-square-foot retail and residential development proposed at the former West Point Cinema and former Menard’s store sites at Bluemound Road, Barker Road and I-94, near Goerke’s Corners in the Town of Brookfield. The project will be anchored by a Von Maur department store and will have a town center layout similar to Bayshore Town Center in Glendale.
Marcus Corp. is seeking a TIF of about $30 million for the $200 million project, Czopp said.
Meanwhile, also on Tuesday, The Marcus Corp. announced that it has signed an agreement with Milwaukee-based Mandel Group Inc. to direct development of the 150 luxury apartments that are planned in The Corners.
“We continue to find strong demand for this type of upscale housing in strategic suburban locations,” said Mandel Group chief operating officer Robert Monnat. “Development projects like The Corners are rare in today’s suburban market, therefore few opportunities exist to create this type of genuine neighborhood from the ground up. The Corners is a very unique product in a very special residential-development setting that we know will have broad appeal.”
Mandel Group will serve as a consultant overseeing the design, development, leasing and operations of the apartments.
“We continue to make major progress on all fronts of The Corners development and look forward to announcing more details in the coming weeks,” Falvey said. The Marcus Corp. is getting close to making additional tenant announcements for the project, she said.
Other than Von Maur, The Marcus Corp. has declined to say what other tenants will be located in The Corners. However, the project is expected to include several restaurants and some sources say Marcus has been in negotiations with Bravo|Brio Restaurant Group to open a Brio Tuscan Grille at The Corners and with Crave Restaurants to open a location at The Corners.
“They are both really excellent restaurant concepts,” Falvey said. “I can’t comment any further than that.”
The Marcus Corp. hopes to begin construction of The Corners this year. If that happens the project will be complete by the fall of 2015, Falvey said.
