Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/863214
28 S C T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 A derelict industrial wasteland makes way for The District, a vibrant mixed-use corridor By Ben Johnson A 13-year wait to redevelop a long-derelict industrial corridor outside Milwaukee was well worth it, resulting in one of southeast Wisconsin's premier retail and mixed-use destinations, according to the project's lead developer. "This project hasn't gotten a lot of notoriety, simply because it's in Milwaukee and not in one of the gateway cities," said project leader Timothy Blum, an executive vice president and managing director of the retail division at Chicago- based HSA Commercial Real Estate. The firm recognized the site's re- development potential back in 2004 and acquired a 10-acre parcel. The city of Wauwatosa rezoned the site as a large-scale mixed-use development the following year. "We knew that the city Milwaukee makeover was going to be a willing partner in a redevelopment and would be putting this in a TIF [tax increment financ- ing] district," said Blum, "so all the ingredients were here, which is what motivated us to continue assembling the land." The District, as this now 70-acre phased redevelopment in suburban Wauwatosa, west of downtown Mil- waukee, is called, comprises The May- fair Collection — a 270,000-square- foot, fashion-oriented retail center built within repurposed warehouses — plus a row of local and regional restau- rants, and roughly 1,000 apartment units to be constructed over the next five years or so. The project sits along heavily traveled Highway 45, north of the GGP-owned Mayfair Mall (one of The Mayfair Collection is a fashion-oriented center built within repurposed warehouses D E V E L O P M E N T D I G E S T F R O M R E N D E R I N G TO G R A N D O P E N I N G