"It has to be more than that."
James Rowen's post at The Political Environment prompted me to note that it's not just certain parties in Franklin who are uninspired by the thought of another target being built in their vicinity. It's also officials who hold the purse strings to freeway interchange money.
Hold out for the IKEA, I say! I'm tired of driving to Illinois for my office furniture; and we've got all the Target we need.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
County gives cool reception to Pabst Farms' latest plans
By SCOTT WILLIAMS
swilliams@journalsentinel.comPosted: Feb. 20, 2008
Waukesha - New plans for a shopping center at Pabst Farms are getting a cool reception from Waukesha County officials who must decide whether to help build a freeway interchange at the development site.
Some county officials say the developer has talked about trying to land such commonplace retailers as Target and Kohl's to anchor the proposed shopping center in Oconomowoc.
Those anchor stores would not likely create the sort of upscale attraction requiring the expenditure of taxpayer money on the infrastructure, officials said.
"The expectation was that they were going to be a regional draw," said Norman Cummings, the county's director of administration. "It wouldn't be a regional draw if we have them all over the place."
Officials at Developers Diversified Realty, the Cleveland-based developer, have indicated that they would start courting anchor tenants after the 165-acre project won local approval.
Oconomowoc aldermen gave the concept preliminary approval Tuesday night. Waukesha County supervisors, however, said they are taking a wait-and-see approach.
Supervisor Bonnie Morris of Dousman said she was unimpressed when the developer privately touted past projects anchored with stores such as Target and Kohl's.
"It has to be more than that," Morris said.
Pabst Farms spokesman Thad Nation said Wednesday that the development team has had preliminary talks with some potential anchors, although he would not identify them.
"We fully expect that we'll attract quality anchor tenants," Nation said.
Pabst Farms is a 1,500-acre residential and commercial development in western Waukesha County that would include the outdoor shopping center, which is known as Pabst Farms Town Centre.
If all goes as planned, development officials will break ground on the shopping center and seek funding to start the freeway interchange later this year, Nation said.
The Waukesha County Board last fall agreed to include the I-94 interchange in capital spending plans for the county. The plans called for Pabst Farms and the county to contribute $1.75 million each, while Oconomowoc would pay $400,000 and the state would pay the rest.
Proposed at I-94 and Highway P, the freeway improvement is expected to cost $25 million.
Desiring a regional draw
Shortly before the County Board endorsed the cost-sharing arrangement, however, General Growth Properties of Chicago dropped out as the shopping center developer.
So the county made its financial contribution contingent on a new developer stepping forward with plans for a regional attraction.
Another vote of the County Board would be needed to allocate funds for the $1.75 million country contribution.
Developers Diversified Realty has since proposed a large outdoor lifestyle mall, with three larger anchor tenants, a movie theater, several smaller specialty shops and other features.
Supervisor James Behrend of Delafield said he was undecided about the project.
Behrend said the new shopping center might warrant taxpayer support, and he fears that not building a freeway interchange would push traffic congestion onto nearby county roads.
But he agreed that the caliber of anchor tenants in the mall would prove decisive.
"If I hear it's a Target or a Kohl's, that doesn't sound different from anything we have," he said.
Upscale tenants
Supervisor Ted Rolfs of Chenequa said he hopes the shopping center will attract upscale anchor stores on the level of Saks Fifth Avenue or IKEA home furnishings.
At this point, Rolfs said, he is inclined to oppose the freeway funding.
"Until they can show us what kind of people they'll get, I don't think I can support it," he said. "From what they've shown us so far, I don't see it."
On the Web: www.pabstfarms.com.
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