More than 10 years into development, another 500 apartment units are on track to be added to The Mayfair Collection at the intersection of I-41 and Burleigh Street in Wauwatosa, as some of the mixed-use development’s retail transitions into its second generation of tenants.
Mayfair Collection master developer Citadel Property Advisors, a Chicago firm spun off from HSA Commercial Real Estate (the original developer of Mayfair Collection), has so far tackled about 80% of the site’s 69 acres, which once was primarily a warehouse and distribution facility for Roundy’s.
With two approvals from Wauwatosa’s Design Review Board in hand, Citadel is eyeing a spring 2025 construction start for another 289 apartment units and a spring 2026 construction start for 234 more. An additional roughly 200 units could be built in a subsequent phase for a total of more than 700 units, according to Tim Blum, founder of Citadel. The company is planning to partner with Mount Prospect, Illinois-based Wingspan Development Group for all three of these projects.
“If we’re successful in this first phase, we would like to execute an additional phase in that area,” Blum said. “And we anticipate we will be successful, given vacancy and rents in the area.”
Known as the Foundry at Mayfair Collection, the project will add density to the retail-based development. In total, there is about 400,000 square feet of retail space at Mayfair Collection, all of which is leased, according to Blum.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Blum said of the process to fill all of the retail space.
Most of the development’s retail space was built in 2014 and 2016, and tenancy has been stable when it comes to merchandise and clothing retailers. The most recent tenants to set up shop at Mayfair Collection include sports merchandise retailer Rally House, which opened last year, and shoe store Boot Barn, which opened earlier this year. Following the 2019 closure of Saks Off Fifth, one of the original tenants at Mayfair Collection, Blum said clothing retailer Burlington will fill the space early next year.
Finding and keeping tenants in the development’s several restaurant spaces has been more challenging. Four concepts operated by Chicago-based Phoenix Hospitality Group closed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, plus two other restaurants at Mayfair Collection closed at the same time. Many of those spaces have found new life with restaurants such as Mex Avenue, Crafty Crab Wauwatosa and a Good City Brewing taproom.
The Foundry apartments will join the Synergy apartments directly to the south, which opened in 2018 with 270 units.
“Those had a good lease-up and have since had stable occupancy, so we’re confident we can be successful with Foundry,” Blum said.
Citadel previously proposed a summer 2023 construction start on the Foundry apartments, but that timeline was delayed as the developers sought city approvals, including for tax incremental financing.
Wauwatosa in April approved a term sheet for a development agreement outlining its support for the Foundry with two forms of tax incremental financing.
Under the TIF, the city is providing up to $5 million to reimburse the developers for infrastructure costs related to the parking structure, public-use pedestrian path, stormwater vaults, dog park facilities and roads, according to the term sheet.
Additionally, the developers will annually receive a portion of the tax increment the development generates, equaling a future value of up to $14.75 million. Much of that will reimburse the developers for the cost of installing below-grade parking and public infrastructure. During the approval process in April, the developers told the city the below-grade parking is designed to enhance the area’s pedestrian experience by eliminating the need for surface parking lots.
The Foundry’s estimated taxable value will be more than $91.5 million, the term sheet shows.
Construction of Foundry will join a construction project at the northern end of Mayfair Collection by West Allis-based MSP Real Estate that will include 80 units of senior housing, many of which will be below market rate. That project received about $2.5 million from Milwaukee County as part of a push to build more affordable housing in the Milwaukee suburbs.
If all three projects that Citadel and Wingspan have planned materialize, the only remaining piece of developable land at Mayfair Collection will be a 3-acre site at the far north end of the project site.
