In 2007, you will not only see the culmination of several major redevelopment initiatives but you’ll begin observing a basic redesigning of the urban fabric of West Allis.
With the tremendous expansion of job opportunities in 2006, such as the addition of several hundred new jobs in the Summit Place office complex plus the addition of Anthem BlueCross BlueShield of Wisconsin’s 900 jobs, the city is poised for even more major successes in 2007.
In 2006, the Summit Place restoration showed the strength of embracing obsolete buildings and reinterpreting the way older industrial buildings can be retrofitted to what is effectively (the size of) a new 20-story office building. In 2007, the city hopes to foster the continued success of Summit Place by launching another 100,000 to 200,000 square feet of vacant warehouse space into loft office space.
West Allis will increasingly become more competitive in 2007 because of its easy access to the metro-Milwaukee area and the availability of and unparalleled number of new style housing choices.
In 2007, dramatically new urban living options will become available in West Allis. The Belmont, on West Greenfield Avenue between South 63rd Street and South 64th Street, has already broken ground and will be offering $200,000 condos to $400,000 penthouse townhouses. Available in late 2007 will be Toldt Development Inc.’s two architecturally sensitive market rate multi-family buildings providing loft apartments and flats. At the center of the development are quality lifestyle amenities, including convenient shopping at the newly renovated farmers market and building features such as tall ceilings, roof-top terraces, underground parking and a private community center. The Toldt development will be located on the block between West Greenfield Avenue and West National Avenue, and South 65th Street and South 66th Street. Rental rates will range from $850 to $1,200.
In 2007, the former Laidlaw school bus site and Neis Hardware store at West National Avenue and South 80th Street will be reinterpreted as a mixed-use development composed of four to five-story high quality residential uses and commercial office facilities.
Come the first part of January 2007, West Allis’s last remaining industrial dinosaur, the former 251,000-square-foot Pressed Steel Tank building, will come tumbling down to make way for a diverse mix of market-rate housing, condominiums and commercial uses.
In 2007, the city will be focusing on enhancing one’s first impression upon entering the city limits by incorporating improvements to streetscaping, stronger architectural styles for dozens of new and renovated buildings, expanded site and landscaping improvements, more decorative street lighting in targeted areas and some exciting new urban art.
The city’s quality of life will see more major enhancements through neighborhood park improvements, the development of an east-west 50-mile bike and pedestrian trail across the city, the addition of three to four soccer fields and the completion of Centennial Plaza at City Hall.
We may see something that we have not seen in West Allis in over 15 years — a new residential subdivision. The 15-acre, city-owned parcel located at South 116th Street and West Morgan Avenue could begin to see the development of a neo-traditional subdivision for high-quality single family homes and condominiums.
The city projects the closing of a second tax increment finance (TIF) district in 2007, which will add $860,000 in new property tax relief and an additional $30 million in taxable value to the city.
In 2007, we will probably see the assembly of about 10 acres along the Highway 100 corridor for a new big-box national retailer and the addition of over 400,000 square feet of new industrial facilities.
The continued economic development public/private partnerships will provide a dozen local residents the opportunity to explore opening small business or expanding existing business in the community. We should see the expansion of the restaurant row along Greenfield Avenue with the addition of new eateries.
In the later part of 2007, the city hopes to see the start of construction of a hotel and nine acres of complementary commercial development on the southwest corner of State Fair Park.
The City of West Allis is boldly leaping forward in 2007.
John Stibal is the director of development for the City of West Allis.
Editor’s note:
Southeastern Wisconsin’s real estate is being transformed to reflect the region’s transition from a manufacturing-dominant economy to a more diverse and service-oriented economy. Perhaps no local community is seeing that transformation more dramatically than West Allis. More significant changes are ahead for West Allis in 2007, according to John Stibal, the city’s director of development.
