There was a meeting this past Thursday evening between the developers of Sendik's West (what we're now calling the Greg Devorkian-developed portion of Fountains of Franklin, I guess) and residents of the subdivision to the immediate North (see Metro Milwaukee Today's post by Greg Kowalski).
A digression: As I've mentioned before, note how this commercial development continues to concentrate solely on Rawson Avenue traffic without even the tiniest nod toward serving the nearby neighborhood in any way, shape or form; it is a site plan that effectively creates maximum sound and visual annoyance for nearby residents without the reward of providing useful and interesting civic space - - it's no wonder they aren't excited about their potential new neighbors. But I digress.
A concern raised again and again regarding Devorkian's portion of the development is that, now that Sendik's is in place, the original promise of "high-end development" has been replaced with Devorkian's evident desire to get some quick payback on his investment with whatever tenants he can get signed in the near term - - a Dairy Queen, for instance, and/or a standard-issue CVS pharmacy. What he has brought forth in terms of building proposals and potential tenants since those heady days of "this will be a high-end development" have been dismal.
Devorkian's ostensible "partner" in the Fountains of Franklin project is Dave Hintzman's Equitable Development, which, according to Hintzman, still clings to the idea that upscale tenants are worth courting and waiting for. He has long been frustrated by a series of situations that he could or would mention previously only in an off-the-record context. Yesterday, as a follow-up to the meeting with residents, he sent the following email to everyone who had attended. Attached was a pdf of a complaint dated 7/29/08 and filed by the City of Franklin (specifically, planning manager Joel Dietl) against the owners of a storage company that bisects the Fountains of Franklin site. The owners of the storage company, who also have a residence on the property, have been reluctant to sell in spite of the fact that they have been for years in clear violation of specific zoning rules. And they have recently been entertaining multiple visits from rival developer Mark Carstensen.
Here is the email. We'll discuss it further in coming days.
Unfortunately, there are many details that the public is unaware of. Due to your and your neighbor's concerns the following is background and current information you may find beneficial.
The original Fountains of Franklin project had received thirteen Letters of Intent (Pre-Contract) from local businesses such as an OB/GYN, local cafe, florist, dentistry, optical, gift shop, malt shop, Aveda day spa, and an Asian fusion restaurant among others. However, we were marketing upscale national tenants at the same time. In the recent past, many high end retailers have expressed interest in locating here. Most of them are current tenants at the Bayshore Town Center. For example, last Fall, a senior executive from Coldwater Creek spend six hours with us. At that time, the Mayor also attended the meeting. Coldwater Creek explained that their market research proved that their customers are already in our market area. In addition, a major high end department store (not currently in WI) has also expressed interest. Based on the quantity of national retailer interest, we felt that this project should be looked at more globally.
However, at that time, we were becoming very frustrated as the city Staff placed an unwarranted and inaccurate $110,000 assessment on our property. Additionally, the city Staff provided a strong recommendation to deny a required Certified Survey Map (property lines) for a major upscale tenant on our property. During this period, our neighbor (storage company) asked me that if I came across a well qualified buyer to send them his way. Shortly after, one of the national retailers interested in our site introduced us to a major national developer. Coincidently, this developer has a client list similar to Bayshore. Persuant to my neighbor's request, I forwarded their contact information to them. Our neighbor requested to meet with the national developer about a month ago.
Since then, it was noticed that Mark Carstensen's vehicle has been parked outside the office of the storage company on three separate occasions (7/24, 7/30 & 8/6). Now, at this Monday's Special Common Council meeting, our neighbor stated his reluctance on selling his property. We found it very interesting that Judge Fred Klimetz (former Mayor) spoke strongly towards the same position my neighbor (Fox) holds.
It has come to our attention that the outdoor parking facilities next door never received the required Special Use Approvals to operate legally. While the city Staff are aware of this, to date they have chosen not to enforce this part of their ordinance. Instead, just recently, they chose to begin enforcing a variety of zoning violations only. The Staff has recently confirmed that the property owner running the concrete shop and outdoor storage facility has been unlawfully existing for some time. Our current zoning of OL-2 does not allow for a concrete company, outdoor storage or mini-warehouse operations. Due to their unlawful status, they cannot be "grandfathered." To be quite frank, why would high end retailers come to a community who doesn't enforce all of their ordinances?
We have also been made aware that there may be a public perception that someone is kicking our neighbor out of his home. That is not true. After reviewing the attached citation that was recently filed in the Franklin Municipal Court, it appears that the residential portion of the property is not in question. It will be heard in front of Judge Fred Klimetz (former Mayor).
I hope you will find this information helpful.
Equitable Development
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