Franklin Today

Aldermen look for 27th Street spending options while Mayor points out the unknown

Last week, the Common Council authorized staff to explore funding options for the city as they continue to make developing 27th Street a high priority. This continuation of spending comes at no surprise to some, given that the city has pumped in millions of dollars from a variety of public funding sources to this commercial corridor. When the spending began back in the 1990s, Franklin officials believed strongly that our neighbor to the east, Oak Creek, would be an equal partner sharing an equal high interest in seeing the corridor develop to its maximum extent. However, as years turned to decades Oak Creek's interest went from a nice high to perhaps an all-time low. This was evident as Mayor Taylor mentioned prior to the Council's vote that with a new mayoral administration in Oak Creek coming soon, their commitment to the corridor was up in the air.

More public funds for 27th Street?

Tonight's Common Council agenda includes two development topics: the Crossroads intersection (Hwy 100 & Loomis) and the 27th Street Corridor. What stands out is how those two topics part ways in terms of priorities and vision.

Wyndham Village has new owner, new tenants coming soon?

Earlier today the Business Journal reported that the Shoppes at Wyndham Village was sold in a foreclosure auction to a Delaware-based firm. This ends a $19 million lawsuit and also frees up the shopping center to hopefully begin landing new tenants to fill-in vacancies in both the outlot buildings as well as parcels still needing to  be developed. Given the state of the economy, retailers and restaurants likely viewed a shopping center with an owner up-in-the-air as a strong negative in terms of whether or not to sign a lease.

With things settled, the Business Journal also reports that the receiver in-charge of Wyndham Village during the transitional period has worked on and seems close to landing one or more tenants at the center. Additional retailers would be a great plus for the center, and will give residents more variety closer to home.

Alderwoman Wilhelm sends out August e-Newsletter

Please see below for items of interest in the city. Note that several items have already passed due to delays in getting this e-Newsletter posted to the blog. My apologies for this.

Restaurants desired for Southridge, as decided by you

Last week's news of the future of Southridge generated quite a buzz. So much so, that this website and Facebook page collaborated with Citizens for Community Development in creating a poll asking you, the readers and fans of this site, what you wanted to see in terms of restaurants. Further promoting this and truly making this a success, Greendale Village President John Hermes informed me that if we decided to send over the data, he would forward it onward personally to Simon Property Group. Simon is the owner of Southridge and the largest mall operator in North America.

So the polling began, and everyone had a restaurant of choice. In one week, over 2,500 votes were cast, and over 50 restaurants were named as choices. But only one restaurant could take top honors as the "most desired". See who it was below:

UPDATED: Restaurants at Southridge: What say you?

In light of the news that Simon Malls will be seeking several new restaurants for the entrances of Southridge, Franklin Today earlier launched a Facebook poll with the basic question: What restaurant would you like to see at Southridge? Residents from Franklin and other southern suburbs have been and are continuing to respond.

UPDATE: I just received word from Greendale Village President John Hermes that he will forward Franklin Today's poll to the appropriate contact(s) at Simon. Make your thoughts known before Thursday, either on Facebook or in the comments section below this post.

Hermes also had this to say to readers:

I agree with many of the voters thus far. I can tell you that a new excitement has begun and many resturants are being solicited by Simon Property Group, and others showing their own new interest in Southridge. There will be new resturants both inside and outside on the outlots. Stay tuned. Many new exciting announcements will be forthcoming!

UPDATED 6pm: The restaurants people would like to see at Southridge are:

• PF Chang's - 23 votes
• Maggiano's Little Italy - 19 votes
• The Cheesecake Factory - 18 votes
• Noodles & Company - 16 votes (what's interesting about this is that Noodles is located right down the street from Southridge on 76th Street. Perhaps Noodles should relocate to the mall, or better advertise itself.)
• California Pizza Kitchen - 5 votes
• Bravo!, BD's Mongolian Grill, Chili's, McCormick & Schmick's & Cheeseburger in Paradise - 1 vote

Those taking the Facebook poll, if not seeing their restaurant of choice, can add to the poll choices. Since shopping malls generally focus on bringing in chain restaurants, I strongly encourage that poll answers be limited to chain restaurants. If you do not have a Facebook account, feel free to post your thoughts in the comments section below this post.

Up to 3 new restaurants, additional upscale stores at Southridge

Last night, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel retail reporter Doris Hajewski saved additional good news for Southridge for today's paper. In addition to Macy's opening in the Younkers space and the renovations throughout the mall and food court, Simon Malls is working to bring in up to 3 new restaurants, situated at mall entrances, and will have a focus at luring in upscale Womens and Home Decor stores to a revamped Macy's wing. Simon will be doing this at this year's International Council of Shopping Centers convention, currently underway in Las Vegas. 

New Franklin Today poll question is up

For those not yet "fans" of Franklin Today on Facebook, a new poll question has been posted: 

Would you support the city creating a TIF District to help bring in a high quality development, such as a town center project or major office park?

You can find the poll at this link. Feel free to also write your opinion in the comments section below this post.

Macy's will be an anchor at Southridge

As expected, the news was great today for residents throughout the southern suburbs, especially Franklin. Simon Malls announced several major renovations at Southridge, as well as confirming that Macy's will be anchoring the southern portion of the mall, replacing many years of vacancy or partitioned mid-box stores at the former Younkers space. The new Macy's will be taking up 150,000 sq ft, which is 60,000 sq ft shy of the space's 210,000 sq ft. It is unknown as to what will happen with the remaining space, but Simon has told reporters that they will be seeking additional retailers (and presumably restaurants) to locate at Southridge. The commitment of Macy's and the opening of H&M in the coming months are both huge positives, along with Simon's ability to persuade prospective tenants to be part of their shopping malls. I'm expecting the mall to "upscale" itself in terms of retailers locating in the mall, particularly in the southern (Macy's) wing.

The rest of Simon's announcement included several renovations to the mall, including:

• Redesigning the mall entrances
• Updated signs and landscaping
• Food Court improvements
• Renovating the play area near the Food Court
• New tile flooring and carpeting (could this be similar to Mayfair Mall's 2nd floor?)
• Redesigning Southridge's "common areas"

Lastly, Journal Sentinel reporter Doris Hajewski has received information from her sources that World Market, which is located in one of those mid-box "partitions" I mentioned earlier, will be shuttering its Southridge store.

It's Franklin vs. Brown Deer...

Andy's on 51st & Rawson is one of a few choice stations in the metro area where E85 flex fuel is available to customers. Being observant of this, on Thursday Andy's will be offering a very (no, extremely) reasonable rate of $0.85 per gallon of E85 (max 20 gallons) at its Franklin (51st & Rawson) & Brown Deer locations. They're making this part of a friendly challenge between the two stations to see which community "flexes" their "fuel muscles" more. 

From their press release:

Summer is the beginning of Ozone season. Ozone, the main ingredient of smog, presents a serious air quality problem in many parts of Wisconsin, particularly Milwaukee County. Even at low levels, ozone can cause health effects and is especially harmful to those with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

A typical Flex Fuel Vehicle (FFV) driver can prevent 4 tons of lifecycle CO2 and other pollutants from entering our air every year by fueling with E85 instead of gasoline. Because E85 is made with up to 85 percent ethanol, it has many other added benefits, including reducing our dependence on foreign oil and supporting local economies.

This year’s E85 Challenge is sponsored by the American Lung Association in Wisconsin Clean Air Choice® program, Andy’s Stations and the Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board.