Over the past few months, dump trucks have been regularly seen going to and from a large parcel of land long rumored to have major development potential near the Loomis & Rawson area, directly behind Pick n Save. Many residents have been making remarks about the constant in and out flow of these trucks for quite some time, and were curious about what was going on with the site.
Whenever someone approached me about the issue, I was very upfront with them - the city and developers both like that area for major retail development due to the location and already existing retail strip malls next to them. What frustrated me was how this process was being done. Essentially, the work is chugging along with no public meetings scheduled on the matter, past or present.
While some aldermen could argue that there doesn't need to be public hearings on something that isn't proposed or set in stone, reality is that developers are looking at the site and perhaps some steering from the residents of Franklin as to what the people would like to see built on the large parcel would be in order.
Last week, my concerns became reality when the past few months of filling in dirt yielded the results needed. A "for sale" sign, with CB Richard Ellis as the broker, went up along Loomis in front of the site. Not only that, but an entire website was created just for marketing the site - which is going for $6 million. Intriguing how that magical number pops up again; we've heard $6 million as the asking price for the site for the future Shoppes at Legend Creek as well.
The website states the following:
CB Richard Ellis has been retained as the exclusive Agent for the Sale of 52 Acres at 8301 West Loomis Road in the City of Franklin, Wisconsin.
Franklin is well-positioned less than ten minutes from General Mitchell International Airport, serving 7.7 million passengers per year. The City of Franklin benefits from a superb highway transportation network, including four freeway interchanges for Interstate I-94, running parallel to the City's eastern boundary. Eight freeway interchanges for Interstate I-43 and I-894 are located within two miles to the north.
The site features the following:
- TRAFFIC COUNT: Loomis Rd south of 76th St – 17,500 VPD
Rawson Ave east of Loomis Rd – 17,700 VPD - Prime commercial development opportunity located in the rapidly growing City of Franklin
- Site located in the Chicago-Milwaukee I-94 corridor
- The City of Franklin is currently working with the
Department of Transportation for access off Loomis Road - The site is currently zoned R7, two-family
- Asking price $6,000,000
With this all being done, it is highly likely that a major commercial development will be proposed shortly. Furthermore, the announcement that the City of Franklin is working with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for Loomis Road access on the property is stunning; last I heard from the city's Engineering Department was that the parcel would never be able to be accessed directly via Loomis.
All said, my gut tells me this won't be the last post about this important parcel of land this year.
