Spotlight On: Waukesha County
Marcus Theatres Corp.’s eight-screen West Point Cinemas and nine-screen Westown Cinema will close once the company’s 17-screen Majestic Cinema opens for business in the Town of Brookfield. Site preparation work for the Majestic Cinema is underway, and construction will begin in the spring.
Contrary to other movie theaters that have closed in the metro Milwaukee area, West Point and Westown are prime real estate properties that most likely will not sit idle for long, commercial real estate experts say.
Both are located near the busy Goerkes Corner area where Interstate 94, Bluemound Road, Moreland Boulevard and Barker Road come together.
The two theater properties are for sale, said Carlo Petrick, director of communications for Milwaukee-based Marcus Theatres.
Eau Claire-based Menard Inc. is already in conversation with Marcus Theatres to purchase the West Point Cinemas property at 20241 W. Bluemound Road in the Town of Brookfield, said Theron Berg, real estate project manager for Menard Inc.
The company has a Menards a store next door to West Point at 20005 W. Bluemound Road. The firm wants to demolish West Point and the current Menards store and build a new, larger Menards store.
Menard Inc. is trying to get its plans approved by town officials.
"These properties were developed nearly 20 years ago and the (Town) board wants to make sure the redevelopment satisfied all contemporary needs," said Gary Lake, building inspector and planning administrator for the Town of Brookfield. "Conditions change over 20 years, including traffic access, and they want to make sure the redevelopment works for the next 20 years."
The Menards store in Brookfield was one of the first retail locations for Menard Inc. in the Milwaukee area and is smaller than other more recently built locations, Berg said.
By demolishing the current store and the theater, Menard Inc. can build a two-story, 200,000 square-foot store and expand the size of the current lumber yard, Berg said. Menard Inc. is updating all of its store locations, he said.
Although a two-story store is rare for Menards locations, the development will be roughly the same size as the other locations, Berg said.
"We have had past success at the (current) location and did not want to move," Berg said. "(The Menards) was one of our first stores in the Milwaukee area and it needs to be replaced."
Berg declined to comment on the possible sale agreement between Menard Inc. and Marcus Theatres.
The Majestic Cinema will be located one mile west of West Point Cinemas at the corner of Springdale Road and Bluemound Road in the Town of Brookfield. The 16-acre site previously housed Schreiber Foods and Beatrice Cheese.
Immediately adjacent to the future 17-screen UltraScreen cinema is a Sam’s Club located on Springdale Road which added a 28,000-square-foot addition to its space in 2005, before the town was approached by Marcus Theatres, Lake said.
Lake does not foresee any further development in the near future at that site.
Westown Cinema is located across Interstate 94 from West Point at 2440 E. Moreland Blvd. in the City of Waukesha.
As of yet, no company or individual has approached the City of Waukesha with proposals for the future use of the property, said Michael Hoeft, city planner for Waukesha.
Real estate brokers James T. Barry III of Milwaukee-based Colliers Barry and Sam Dickman Jr. of Milwaukee-based The Dickman Co. Inc. said the property will most likely be used for a retail purposes.
Key Waukesha County Projects
- Pabst Farms – A $1 billion, 1,500-acre residential, retail, industrial, medical and office development at Highway 67 and I-94 in Oconomowoc and the Town of Summit.
- Marcus Theatres Corp. – Construction of a 17-screen cineplex will start this spring at the corner of Springdale Road and Bluemound Road in the Town of Brookfield. The new Marcus Theatres cinema will replace West Point Cinemas in the Town of Brookfield and Westown Cinema in the City of Waukesha.
- Delafield Hotel – Andrew Littartz plans to open a 38-room boutique hotel off of I-94 just west of Highway C in downtown Delafield. He is leasing the building from Robert Lang, owner of the Lang Companies. The hotel also will feature Andrew’s, a restaurant serving American cuisine with a jazz bar, floor-to-ceiling private booths and a special parlor. The hotel is set to open in April.
- Waynz World – Wayne and Donna Slawson have partially opened their 52,000 square-foot sports complex located at I-43 and Highway 164 in the Town of Vernon. The complex includes indoor volleyball courts, basketball courts and other amenities, plus Longnecks, a sports bar and restaurant.
- Menard Inc. – The Eau Claire-based retailer plans to demolish its current Menards store on Bluemound Road and I-94 in Brookfield, and the adjacent West Point Cinemas building, to build a two-story, 200,000-square-foot Menards store. Menard Inc. has not yet completed the purchase of the movie theater property from Marcus Theatres Corp.
