Mental health care provider Rogers Memorial Hospital is in talks with the developers of Pabst Farms to build a 31-acre campus within the mixed-use development at I-94 and Highway 67 in Oconomowoc.
It appears the Rogers Memorial campus could include a hospital and an administrative building, although details in city filings are sketchy and Pabst Farms and Rogers Memorial representatives declined to provide more information when reached by BizTimes Milwaukee.
The campus is part of an overall development proposal for a 71-acre portion of Pabst Farms northeast of Old Schoolhouse and Valley roads, just west of Summit Elementary School.
Besides the Rogers Memorial campus, the remainder of the 71-acre site would include up to 200 market rate, upscale apartments by Northbrook, Illinois-based Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors on 31 acres and 7.8 acres of business uses including office and commercial retail, according to the plans submitted to the city.
Developers are asking that the site be rezoned from suburban residential to business park and high density, which will be considered by the city’s plan commission on Sept. 13.
William Niemann, executive vice president of Pabst Farms, could not give details on the Rogers Hospital plan, saying he has signed a confidentially agreement with Rogers.
“We have had discussion with them, and others, regarding the business park aspect to the site,” Niemann said.
The Oconomowoc plan commission agenda refers to a “Rogers Hospital campus” as part of the Pabst Farms proposal.
In a letter to Oconomowoc city planner Jason Gallo, Niemann says, “Pabst Farms has had productive meetings with a corporate user to build an approximate 31-acre campus, including their main administrator building…”
A spokeswoman for Rogers declined to provide details about the Pabst Farms plans.
“Rogers is currently exploring numerous options to expand services to meet patient needs in the future, but we have not made any decisions to purchase property at this time,” said Anne Ballentine, Rogers spokeswoman.
Earlier this year, Mills Fleet Farm announced plans to build a 218,628-square-foot store at I-94 and Highway 67 in the Pabst Farms development. That project is the first development at the Town Centre portion of Pabst Farms.
A decade ago, developer Peter Bell’s 1,500-acre Pabst Farms development included plans for a 1 million-square-foot upscale regional shopping center, called the Pabst Farms Town Centre, northeast of I-94 and Highway 67. But plans for the upscale regional mall never moved forward and most of the other commercial development at Pabst Farms ceased during and after the Great Recession.
Niemann said the projects that could come together with the rezoning request, along with the homes currently being built could attract more retail.
In July, Pewaukee-based Neumann Companies, Inc. announced plans to develop 351 single-family home lots at Pabst Farms, creating four new neighborhoods along I-94 in Oconomowoc and Summit.
Kingsway Homes is also building 100 condominiums.
“Retailers look at rooftops and demographics and these projects will attract a great deal of attention from them,” Niemann said. “We’re pleased with the activity. It has just taken awhile to absorb the Great Recession.”
