Brookfield-based developer Somerstone LLC has received approval from a judge to purchase 23 acres of land across Interstate 94 from Ikea’s future home in Oak Creek for $4.4 million from a court-appointed receiver.
Somerstone was the only buyer to come forward with a bid on the property. On Wednesday, a motion hearing was held in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on the bid and Judge John DiMotto granted the sale.
Representatives from Somerstone could not immediately be reached for comment.
This city of Oak Creek has high expectations for the parcel, which is located north of Drexel Avenue, between I-94 and south 13th Street.
Popular furniture retailer Ikea will be the anchor of a large mixed-use development across I-94 from the site, on land west of the freeway owned by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. The Swedish retailer will open a 295,000-square-foot, single-story store on 29 acres in the summer of 2018.
“There is so much opportunity in that area. Northwestern Mutual still has 100 acres left. There is a lot of interest in that interchange,” Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi said in a previous interview.
The Oak Creek property has been part of an ongoing lawsuit involving development companies related to Paul Bouraxis.
Bouraxis, of Franklin, reached a plea deal this summer in a federal tax conspiracy case in which he and other family members skimmed more than $3 million and did not report $1.3 million in payroll taxes from their restaurants. The family owns the El Fuego restaurant and Mad Rooster Cafe in Milwaukee, Omega Burger in Franklin and El Beso in Greenfield.
