The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation has awarded the city of Muskego a $500,000 grant for the Parkland Towne Center project at the former Parkland Mall site.
The grant is part of a $2.3 million package of state grants the WEDC will announce Thursday in five communities across the state to help redevelop abandoned industrial sites throughout Wisconsin.
Greenfield-based Ener-Con Companies Inc. began construction last week on the $34 million project at the 11-acre former Parkland Mall site at the corner of Lannon Drive and Janesville Road.
The development will feature a mix of three retail buildings with a total of 54,000 square feet of space and three, four-story apartment buildings with a total of 90 units.
Sendik’s Food Market has committed to anchor one of the retail buildings.
The site has been vacant since 1999, when Parkland Mall was torn down. It sits in a key location at the heart of Muskego’s main commercial corridor. A $7.2 million tax incremental financing district was created by the city in June to help clean up the property.
The first phase of the project will likely be completed in early spring.
Madison and Kimberly will also be awarded $500,000 under the state’s Idle Industrial Sites Redevelopment Program. Green Bay will receive $425,000, and Oshkosh has been awarded $375,000 under the program, which is administered by WEDC.
“Some of these vacant sites have been eyesores for over a decade and have stood in the way of efforts by these communities to revitalize the areas around them,” Mark Hogan, secretary and CEO of WEDC said in a statement. “Through this program, WEDC, local officials and the private sector are working in together to help ensure these now-vacant properties will once again become vibrant cornerstones of their communities.”
The state’s $2.3 million investment is expected to help spur redevelopment projects that ultimately will generate nearly $150 million in capital investment.
