Big progress being made in this transformative Oak Creek development …
Check out photos from the Business Journal here.
I’m excited about this development. Projects like this will lift the entire South Shore, including our fair city.
I can’t wait to see it open.
(Here is the Drexel Town Square website.)
Filed under Oak Creek
I was happy to attend today’s formal groundbreaking of Oak Creek’s Drexel Town Square downtown development, and I left impressed.
The project was called “transformational,” and I can’t disagree. What an opportunity for Oak Creek — a chance to create a city center from scratch with a mix of civic, retail, residential and other uses.
Over the next five to seven years, you’ll see a new city hall, library, hotel (Four Points Sheraton), big box retailer (Meijer), apartments and small Main Street merchants rise from the site at Howell and Drexel Avenues. Farmers’ market, splash pad, ice skating, a town square, greenspace … the list goes on. Added to that list Saturday was Water Street Brewery, which announced its plans to build at Drexel Town Square at a ceremony held at the site.
I’m excited about the project. Some might view it as a negative for South Milwaukee — simply more competition for us when it comes to attracting retailers to our city. I take a different view. This is not “us vs. them,” not zero sum. Yes, Drexel Town Square ratchets up competition, but a project like this lifts the entire region, the entire South Shore, South Milwaukee included. We are all better because of projects like Drexel Town Square.
Learn more details on Drexel Town Square here, and check out more coverage from Saturday’s groundbreaking from Fox 6, CBS 58 and the Business Journal.
Filed under Local Business, Oak Creek, South Milwaukee
Check out these South Shore headlines …
Filed under Headlines
That is according to stories in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Oak Creek Patch.
From the Journal Sentinel story …
The 191,000-square-foot Meijer store would be on the eastern portion of the 85-acre site, which is west of S. Howell Ave. and south of W. Drexel Ave., said Jerry Franke, president of development firm Wispark LLC.
The Meijer store would occupy about one-third of the site, formerly occupied by Delphi Corp. That auto parts factory closed, and was later demolished.
The western portion of the site would have around 150,000 to 200,000 square feet of commercial space, mainly in the former of smaller stores, restaurants and other services, such as a fitness center and medical offices, Franke said Wednesday.
There also would be around 700 apartments, he said. The apartments and additional commercial space would be developed in stages over several years.
What do you think of the plan and its potential impacts on South Milwaukee? Post your comments below!
Filed under Development, Oak Creek
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