Lang Investments’ redevelopment of downtown Delafield in the 1990s would not be the last time the area saw significant and progressive change. In 2019, Beloit-based commercial real estate development firm
Hendricks Commercial Properties began developing what is now Delafield’s first and only mass timber project, known as The Grain.
Located at 705 N. Genesee St. in the heart of Delafield, The Grain consists of two, four-story buildings with 79,397 square feet of commercial space, including 59,493 square feet of office space and 19,904 square feet of retail space, and underground parking. Both buildings were constructed using mass timber, a construction method combining solid wood panels and beams for a new-aged, low-carbon alternative to concrete and steel. The buildings’ brick exterior was designed to fit the aesthetic of the area’s surrounding structures, while still giving downtown Delafield’s longtime appearance a modern makeover.
The decision to develop in Delafield was not a hard one to make, said
Rob Gerbitz, president and CEO of Hendricks Commercial Properties.
“We’ve owned close to 40 different buildings in downtown Delafield not including The Grain,” Gerbitz said. “We were already invested there, and we really liked the community and the location between Milwaukee and Madison.”
Hendricks already owned part of the site at Genesee and Main streets; it purchased the second half at the end of 2017 from the owner of the gas station that formerly operated there. After ironing out hundreds of different iterations of the new development, Hendricks decided that the final project would be totally comprised of office and retail space. An apartment development contended for the final pitch to Delafield’s Plan Commission but was ultimately scrapped due to many of Hendricks’ office space tenants showing interest in expanding. Hendricks saw a need for new office space in Delafield, despite the decline in demand for office space since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think a lot of people thought, ‘Wow, you're nuts, no one's going back to the office,’” Gerbitz said. “But personally, I never believed that.”
Hendricks’ then began the process of planning and designing The Grain, even amidst the pandemic. In its first iteration, The Grain’s design rose red flags among Delafield’s residents and plan commission, which felt the building was too big for the lot, according to Delafield Mayor
Tim Aicher.
At the time, Aicher was president of Delafield’s Common Council and a member of its plan commission. After some negotiations, Aicher and the plan commission changed the city’s master plan to accommodate The Grain, which served as a catalyst for “more scrutiny than any project had received in the 15 years I had been with the city,” Aicher said.
“Some of the initial designs emulated an abandoned tannery or something,” Aicher said.
Jim Babcock, the late curator of the Hawks Inn Historical Society, which managed the 1846 stagecoach inn that existed on the property prior, suggested that Hendricks take inspiration from several turn-of-the-century hotels. The suggestions materialized in Hendricks’ designs, according to Aicher.
Hendricks’ updated office and retail proposal posed few problems with the plan commission, especially in its mitigation of traffic concerns. The inclusion of office space on the top floors meant less traffic than a residential development, something that appeased the plan commission in addition to Hendricks’ ability to fill the space with quality tenants. After approval, Hendricks began finalizing the interior design, with a post-COVID work environment in mind.
“People will come back to the office, but I don't believe they want to come back to a grey, 1985 cube city building with low ceilings and barely any windows,” Gerbitz said.
In an effort to avoid “cube city,” Gerbitz consulted with New Land Enterprises’ managing director
Tim Gokhman, who at the time was developing Wisconsin’s first mass timber building, Ascent MKE, an apartment building in downtown Milwaukee. Hendricks was initially hesitant to commit to a mass timber build since the nuances of the construction method had not been vetted in the same way concrete and steel had been in the region. But Gerbitz said the mass timber design appealed to him.
“I liked it for the look, the feel, the sustainability,” he said.
When development began, however, the global supply chain had fallen victim to the pandemic. Luckily, since mass timber had not yet been picked up by mainstream developers across the nation, those materials were not as commodified as others in the industry, such as materials for HVAC, Gerbitz said.
From its first proposal to its opening day, The Grain took roughly five years to complete, a lengthy wait for Gerbitz and surrounding residents.
“The buildings in downtown Delafield are particularly detailed so we had to live up to what was already there,” Gerbitz said. “I always want it to be less than (five years), but (Hendricks) is a long-term investor, so we knew how long this would take.”
After officially opening in October 2024, tenants began filling retail and office space immediately. Currently, about 50% of The Grain’s office space and about 82% of its retail space is occupied.
One marquee tenant is already having success within its first few weeks of operation. Pennsylvania-based craft beer and restaurant franchise
Voodoo Brewing Co. opened in one of The Grain’s ground-level corner spaces in March. Voodoo occupies roughly 3,800 square feet of space within The Grain’s eastern building. On its opening weekend, the brewpub out-performed nearly every other national franchise, according to franchise owner
Bryan Ronning.
The interior design of the building, including the colors Hendricks chose and the wooden beams conducive with its mass timber build, was exactly what Ronning was looking for in a new space for Voodoo. Its “modern-industrial” aesthetic combined with the building’s prime real estate on the downtown strip and patio space made for an easy decision to set up shop.
“I really do think that (Hendricks’) architectural design made people want to come in here,” Ronning said.
Currently, The Grain is occupied by Voodoo Brewing,
Brunch,
Velvet & Tulle,
LiveFree Health,
NONA Nutrition,
Midwest Insurance,
RBC Wealth Management, and
RAIC Labs (formerly Synthetaic), which occupies two separate 8,200-square-foot spaces in the east building. There are just over 80 underground parking spaces that span between both buildings and a small surface lot outside the west building.
