Some expect downtown Borders store to close

If Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Borders Group Inc. goes through with plans to close 200 of its stores, as reported last week by the Wall Street Journal, some commercial real estate insiders expect the company to close its store at 101 W. Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Milwaukee.
“I can’t imagine it surviving,” said one retail real estate industry source. “It’s not going to be good for our Wisconsin Avenue.”
“I doubt they are making enough sales to justify keeping it open,” said Cory Sovine, vice president of Siegel-Gallager.
The store occupies space in the ASQ Building, which is owned by Williams Development Corp., which gutted and rebuilt the building about 10 years ago. Formerly occupied by Gimbel’s and later Marshall Field’s department stores, the building is now 100 percent occupied by a Residence Inn by Marriott hotel, the American Society for Quality headquarters, other office tenants, and the Borders store.
Borders signed a 20-year lease to occupy the space and about 7 or 8 years ago said William Orenstein, founding principal for Williams Development. The company pays market rate rent for the space, he said.
The store was successful when it first opened but has struggled as The Shops at Grand Avenue has declined and a bridge construction project on Wisconsin Avenue also hurt business there, Orenstein said.
Although the space is located along the riverwalk and the downtown’s main street, and the building is connected to the skywalk system, the space will be difficult to fill if Borders closes, he said.
Orenstein said he is concerned about the building’s retail space, not only because of Borders’ problems but also because the City of Milwaukee plans to close the Wisconsin Avenue bridge for a year, beginning this fall, to do extensive repair and reconstruction work.
“How are we going to lease space on a street that’s closed?” Orenstein said. “That’s going to be Death Valley.”
Orenstein said the space may need to be converted to office space if the Borders store closes.
“I think the chances of leasing the space to retailers are pretty remote,” he said. “We may have to convert it to office space.”