Washington County may once again be one of southeastern Wisconsin hot spots for commercial real estate development, with major projects in West Bend, Jackson, Germantown and Hartford beginning this year.
Downtown West Bend is receiving a facelift with the recent demolition of 11 buildings on the east side of the city, according to Brenda Hicks-Sorensen of the Washington County Economic Development Division.
Meanwhile, Tim Dixon of Riverbend Development is wrapping up details to develop the former West Bend Co. site on the northeast corner of the Milwaukee River and Highway 33, according to Julie Cayo, community development planner for West Bend. Cayo said Dixon is waiting for approval from the West Bend Common Council to convert the 10 buildings of the 900,000 square feet of industrial space into a multi-use development.
Aurora Health Care will begin construction on a new medical clinic this spring at a 60-acre plot adjacent to the interchange of highways 60 and 45 in Jackson, according to Del Beaver, Jackson village administrator.
Beaver said Aurora’s highly visible location should trigger a range of additional developments around the area.
In Germantown, Advanced Healthcare has received approval to build a 16,200-square-foot medical clinic that will be centrally located on Mequon Road and Revere Lane, according to Jason Gallo, village planner for Germantown. Germantown will also soon become the headquarters for Hometown Publications.
"The developments seem to be a nice combination of retail, industrial and residential growth," said Gallo. "The level of activity has seemed to pick up in the last several months, and there are many other projects in the pipeline that could make 2004 a very interesting year."
Werner Wolpert, executive director of the Hartford Area Development Corp., said new manufacturing developments and expansions will increase Hartford’s square footage of manufacturing space from 4.5 million to 4.8 million.
"It is starting to pay off," said Hicks-Sorensen. "Expect to see very positive things from Washington County in the next five to 10 years."
Feb. 6, 2004 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
