Practically Speaking

Can it be? A Target in Brookfield? How about a Trader Joe's too?

Posted by Kyle Prast on March 12, 2010 | 15 comments

City of Brookfield, Development

Oh, my goodness! The City of Brookfield is actually talking about a TARGET store in Brookfield?

It is almost too good to be true. But there it was in black and white on JSOnline.

According to the March 11th Business section, Developer hopes to bring Target, senior apartments to Brookfield.

The 23-acre site Ryan Inc. has agreed to purchase for this potential development is just over Brookfield's border with Wauwatosa on Bluemound Road--the former Quebecor site near UPS.

There was a project planned for the site back in 2007 that fizzled out due to the economy.

The former plan was for mixed use: lots of shops with apartments and condos. I was not in favor of that project. Apartments /condos often bring with them school-aged children. The property taxes paid by apartment and condo owners are not high enough to pay their fair share of school taxes. Plus, we already have plenty of apartment/condo space in Brookfield.

Speaking of plenty of in Brookfield....we also have an abundance of smaller retail space--you know, the little coffee shops, nail salons, specialty stores, etc. The kind most people don't frequent enough. Unfortunately, much of this space is vacant.

But this new proposal is for a Target store! This is a surprise because the words Big Box and Brookfield never used to be uttered in the same sentence. Granted, Target is the slightly higher class Big Box store, as demonstrated by people calling it Targe' (soft g sound).

Senior apartments are a more acceptable idea to me than regular apartments, as long as they are not subsidized. As the population ages, many Brookfielders would like to stay in Brookfield. I would think senior apartments would not be the site of wild parties or domestic violence that often requires police attention that regular apartments do? I would also think senior apartments would be a better fit for the abutting residential neighborhood than standard apartments. Seniors would require more emergency medical care, however.

Now, this is just a suggestion, since we already have far too much apartment space, senior or otherwise, could there be a chance that the developer would woo a Trader Joe's food store to this same location? That would really be something, wouldn't it? (Trader Joe's is the higher class version of ALDI stores.) Trader Joe's is known for its good quality, healthy food, at low prices.

With a Trader Joe's in the same complex, seniors would be within walking distance to their everyday needs. If I were a senior* I would really like that.

People currenlty travel across town to the Bay Shore Trader Joe's. Considering the parking at Bay Shore's Trader Joe's is a nightmare, having one on this side of town would attract some of those customers west. It would also attract customers west of Brookfield to the new store.

If not at this site, how about a Trader Joe's at the many other larger sized, vacant retail properties in Brookfield? (Hint, hint, City of Brookfield.)

Hey, a girl can hope!

I can't say what the Ryan project will look like. Will the developer ask for higher density than what is zoned? Will they want to cram in subsidized senior housing? I don't know. But at first blush, at least the new Target is appealing. Add the Trader Joe's and the retail portion of the project hits the bull's eye.

If this project interests or concerns you, you may wish to attend District 7's Information Meeting on Wed. March 30th at 7-9pm at City Hall. Alderman Lisa Mellone might have more information by then. You can certainly voice your concerns to her.

*I don't know how old you have to be to qualify as a senior...I might already be eligible? :)
 

Links: 

Brookfield7, BetterBrookfield, Vicki McKenna, Jay Weber, The Right View Wisconsin, Randy Melchert, Mark Levin, The Heritage Foundation, CNS News, Breitbart BigGovernment