Franklin Today

Fountains of Franklin faces foreclosure suit

News broke early this morning that the parcel that long promoted the site for the future Fountains of Franklin development is now under a foreclosure lawsuit from M&I Bank. You may recall that this site was proposed for upscale retail and dining several years ago, and the label of the Fountains extended all the way east to Andy's back in 2007.

Have you noticed the activity near Loomis & Rawson?

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.

The #1 Issue: The Great Recession hits Franklin

It doesn’t come to any surprise that the Great Recession would be the #1 Issue that was faced in 2009. There were many setbacks that residents faced during the past year, and everyone felt the pinch. The City of Franklin was impacted in the following areas:

More land goes up FOR SALE

Heading home, I drove past the usual farmlands along Ryan Road between North Cape and Loomis Roads. Something was different with today's view, however. One of the farms has up a large FOR SALE sign, with MLG Commercial as the broker.

The land this farmer has up for sale for development is 130+ acres. This could easily become a business park with the proper installation of sewer and water services to that portion of Franklin. In comparison, the site that would house the Shoppes at Legend Creek development (aka the "Crossroads") at Hwy 100 & Loomis is a meager 33 acres, according to the "available" sign by MidAmerica Real Estate.

You have a say on the CMP

I figured it would serve you better to post two separate entries on the Comprehensive Master Plan. The first post was regarding what the CMP recommended to the council. This piece is about what YOU, the residents of Franklin, want and what PDI/Graef (the consultants who worked on the CMP) felt about it.

Comprehensive Master Plan approval delayed

Last night, the Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP) for the City of Franklin was not approved by the Common Council. Instead, thanks to the efforts of several aldermen, the CMP will be furthered reviewed, modified, and then will approved no later than early November.

Business Journal names off top hot spots in metro area - where's Franklin?

As a subscriber to the Business Journal, I receive their weekly paper and on a regular basis they will have random inserts/publications to read about specific topics. Last Friday, the paper included a tiny publication discussing the Milwaukee Metropolitan Area's top "hot spots" in real estate growth.

For those who might not know, many sitting on the Common Council were elected based off of their ideals to bring forth increased economic development. Most of them got in via a wave created by the now defunct organization Franklin Citizens for Responsible Leadership (FCRL) back in 2004-2005; however many prior to their council sitnts also sat on many key commissions that would encourage economic development.

So they get elected thanks to the negative campaigning, and we begin to push the fast forward button. I hope you can keep up with the ups and the ultimate downs that we're now being impacted by in our community. These downs are so big that Franklin did NOT land in the Business Journal publication on Friday; it's bumped aside by Grafton, the Historic Third Ward, the Kenosha Area, New Berlin, and Wauwatosa. An interesting observation I made (and is really telling to how the situation could be kinda bleak in Franklin) is that the Business Journal's Editor, Mark Kass, also sits on the Community Development Authority.

Oak Creek retail continues to grow; what about Franklin?

Perhaps it's a no surprise anymore to hear more positive retail development occurring in Oak Creek, in particular the stretch of S. Howell Avenue from Drexel south to just before Ryan Road (Hwy 100). Howell Avenue has become an extremely popular spot for national retailers to stake their claims.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Tom Daykin, a strip mall located across from Oak Creek's City Hall, library, and community center could soon see a major revitalization of sorts. The Oak Creek Center strip mall once was anchored by a Sentry Foods before it closed and thus the strip mall fell in tenants and increased in vacancy. Now that is all changing due to the pending announcement that TJMaxx and Petco could take up two spots in the strip mall, bringing the center not only back to life but will add two more national retailers to Howell Avenue.

Tomorrow night is your time to shine

The Comprehensive Master Plan for the City of Franklin looks at various issues and topics. It's important to you because, once approved, it'll be used as a template by current and future leadership at City Hall for what all of us, Franklin residents, will want in our community. It covers key components such as where future pedestrian/bike paths should be located, where future subdivisions or retail projects locate, and what lands should be preserved for recreational purposes.

 

See the downloadable attachments of this post for what is currently on the books for the Plan in terms of future development of the city and future pedestrian/bike trails. For those who might be concerned with the proposed Cascade Creek Trail or a concept for a Pleasant View Trail, this would be an important meeting to attend.

 

This is your time to stand up and give your opinions on how you feel the future of Franklin should come about.

The 27th Street Steering Committee: My thoughts

Yesterday I had the opportunity to be present during the special Common Council meeting, which was held between Noon and 3pm at City Hall. While there were many items on the agenda, the Mayor & Council decided to take focus on the biggest one of them all; the restructuring and/or replacement for the Joint South 27th Street Steering Committee. This committee currently has one representative from Franklin (Alderman Steve Olson) and two from Oak Creek (Alderman Tom Michalski & real estate expert Marie Myszkowski).

Why is this being discussed now? Well, from what I took note in the overall scheme of things, it looks like the entire "ways of doing things" is about to get a tweaked up. I'll note the coincidence to these tweakings with the 1st anniversary of Alderwoman Kristen Wilhelm and CCP Steve Taylor taking their oaths of office, which was April 15th, 2008. It seems to me that while some heavy debate goes on regarding what the heck the "New Day" has done, these potential tweakings should be a primary point to make in anyone's argument.

So what should happen to this committee? While I understand that the now-3-person subcommittee of the Franklin Economic Development Commission is working on several things to get more wheels turning for the corridor, it seems that things aren't moving as fast as truly expected. With the whole Boomgaard controversy, which is nearing its own first anniversary (next Tuesday, I believe), the steering committee lost a lot of "love" from both residents and elected officials. Soon after the controversy simmered down, both committee members representing Franklin (Ted Grintjes, the Chairman, and Jim Rhiner) stepped down from their roles. This stepping down also included saying adios to the Franklin Community Development Authority and Economic Development Commission. With Boomgaard's heat, and the loss of the two influential "powers-that-be" for the committee, it seemed to me that it was pretty much doomed.

What really makes its mark is the overall goal of what the corridor will become for both communities, and how it will begin being a major attraction with regards to retailers, restaurants, and other amenities in the metropolitan area. While kudos and congratulations go out to aldermen for their successes at landing Northwestern Mutual and Wheaton Franciscan, I think they forgot the potential catalyst that both of these could have been prior to the massive economic recession that hit us last Fall.

Meanwhile, today's Journal Sentinel has a feature story on the numerous successes going on up in a community that Franklin leaders like to compare to on a decent basis, Grafton. Their interchange at I-43 and Hwy 60 has boomed into something that will be extremely fruitful for the people of Grafton and Ozaukee County as a whole. The JS notes that in-between the 9/11 attacks and the recession that slammed us in Fall, 2008, that particular interchange went from farmlands to a 400,000 sq ft shopping center anchored by Costco, Best Buy, Michaels, and Kohl's. Across the street from that showcases a new full-scale Aurora hospital under construction. Look across the interstate and a hotel, Colder's, and some restaurants are taking form. Put all of that with original retailers Target, Home Depot, and OfficeMax and that interchange has become a powerhouse in the northern metropolitan area. All of that was accomplished in roughly 8 years.

That sets an interesting bar for 27th Street. While the entire corridor isn't bordering I-94, there will be a future interchange at Elm Road, and there currently is one at 27th Street & County Line Road. In the same timeframe, Franklin & Oak Creek can respond with Northwestern Mutual's campus, Wheaton Franciscan's outpatient hospital, Staybridge Suites, and the Lowe's "mixed use" complex that includes Gander Mountain, Omega, Goodwill, and in the future a Golden Corral. Oh, and of course Arizona Grille and the Ryan Road Pick n Save, as well as a remodeled Judy's restaurant are on Oak Creek's side of things.

Hmmm...who beats who in this particular game of economic development? Northwestern Mutual in this case could be the factor that could top 27th Street over the I-43/Hwy 60 interchange, but it seems to me that this would be the only factor, and that is because Northwestern Mutual is a top-rated company highly sought after by tens (if not hundreds) of communities nationwide.

This all plays a part in my thought process as I'm hearing the debate(s) as to the future of the 27th Street Steering Committee. Have they done their job well up to now? Will they continue to be an effective economic engine to drive development in the future? How is that "wheel" of sorts - broken or running smoothly? I believe the issues today have to do more with how effective the committee can be with its current representation. Sorry, but I don't agree with having a singular representative for the entire City of Franklin on a subcommittee that should have some meaning. Furthermore, that sole representative should not be an alderman that represents a district on the opposite side of the city than where the corridor is located. The committee needs several more members and perhaps a stronger oversight from its founders over at the Economic Development Commission. To be frank, while aldermen scold and slap down the steering committee, the reality is that if the steering committee is a failure then the EDC needs to be noted of this and, well, that commission could be a failure, too. If that's the case, then perhaps the commission that truly needs the tweaking at this time should be the EDC, since there already seems to be difficulty for the current body to even get together once a month.

Since the EDC has control over the steering committee, I'd like to see them exert some thought and possible control over the matter. The EDC can appoint new members and take old ones off (representing Franklin, that is). With that said, it can be easily done to eliminate Alderman Olson from the committee and instead place Alderwoman Wilhelm and CCP Taylor in his place for Franklin's representation. Furthermore, depending on state law and Franklin ordinances, if the EDC feels compelled to add-on business stakeholders to the committee, or perhaps a member of the Chamber of Commerce, then they should do so! Ladies and gentlemen (and those members of the Council who take the time to read this!), if you feel the EDC is inept at making the changes you'd like to see, then make changes of your own! Remove commission members that aren't "taking care of business", so-to-speak. Replace them with members that are along your viewpoints. While the Mayor has the power of making appointments, the Council has to approve of them. If the membership isn't the issue, then perhaps some direction and recommendation needs to be given to the EDC for its next meeting. Maybe the concept of having the EDC meet more than once a month is necessary.

The ball right now is in the Common Council's court as to what should happen in the future with 27th Street. I just hope they can handle making the right decisions instead of aiming to play politics where political scheming is not necessary to get this particular job accomplished.