Politics & Government

Proposed Target Store in Brookfield Wins Approvals

Plan Commission recommends council approve 175,00-square-foot retail complex on West Blue Mound Road.

A 175,000-square-foot retail complex anchored by Target at 12821 W. Blue Mound Rd. won Brookfield Plan Commission approval Monday, after company officials presented architectural upgrades and security assurances.

Plan commissioners praised members of the Target team, including developer Ryan Cos. of Minnesota, for addressing . The Common Council is expected to vote on the project at its June 21 meeting.

Ald. Gary Makhorn, who serves on the commission, said officials were being deliberate in approving the city's first new big-box retailer in decades. The project first came before the city a year ago.

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"In many ways, this is uncharted territory for us," Mahkorn said. "This is new turf. We're not used to approving projects like this."

The complex, dubbed Underwood Crossing, would include a 140,000-square-foot Target with grocery that would be built on the south side of West Blue Mound Road, just east of Elm Grove Road, at the former Quebecor World printing plant site.

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An 18,000-square-foot junior anchor with a yet unknown tenant would be built immediately east of the Target store. Three smaller retail buildings, totaling 16,200 square feet, would be constructed to the north, closest to Blue Mound Road. Those buildings would include a restaurant, financial institution or other small retailers.

Bluemound Bowl — immediately west of the proposed construction — plans to remain open during the entire project and will gain an expanded parking lot with new lighting.  

Aldermen Mark Nelson and Rick Owen, who also serve as commissioners, said the project would vastly improve the area, even if the market didn't support the city's original desire for a mixed retail-housing project at the site.

The shuttered printing plant on the 23-acre property has attracted crime, said Tony Barranco, retail development director for Target's developer Ryan Cos.

Barranco said Target had hoped to salvage and use copper from the plant, but thieves ripped it out. He said another time he was on the property, a police officer ushered him and others into the adjacent Bluemound Bowl because there was a burglary in the area.

"I really do think that this is going to actually make this area a lot safer," Mahkorn said.

Forrest Russell, Target's regional development director, said the company uses national crime statistics databases provided by CAP Index Inc. to assess the risk  to people and property at various stores. The analyses help Target determine how many interior and exterior security cameras to install, whether to hire security guards and other security measures.

Russell provided a map showing the proposed Brookfield store, based on its location on Blue Mound Road near the Brookfield-Wauwatosa border, had an Assset Protection Risk Index score of 148. In comparison, three of four Target stores closest to the proposed Brookfield site had higher scores, meaning they had greater security risk, primarily related to shoplifting.

The Target store at N. 124th Street and W. Capitol Drive, about four miles away in Wauwatosa, had an APRI score of 241. The Target stores in West Allis on S. 108th Street and National Avenue and near Miller Park in West Milwaukee had scores of 247 and 332, respectively.

The only store with a lower risk was the Target on Kossow Road in Waukesha, with a score of 54.

Russell said any site with a score exceeding 200 requires more internal security cameras to capture shoplifting. He assured officials and neighbors that Target would work to ensure a safe shopping experience and a well-maintained property for its residential neighbors to the west.

Dan Ertl, the city's community development director, said another big plus for the project is the fact it will remediate a brownfield site, where printing operations resulted in numerous contaminants. The company will foot the bill for the clean-up, which Barranco estimated at $1 million.

Barranco said the company wouldn't invest that kind of money if it didn't think a store there would be successful. The closest Targets are about four miles away, leaving a gap in coverage, he said.

"The Target guest is in Brookfield and Target doesn't have a store in Brookfield," Barranco said.

Commissioners recommended approval of rezoning, preliminary and final site plat approvals, asking that Target add more landscaping and ridge stone exterior building material.

Ald. Lisa Mellone also urged the developer to ensure that no vehicular access be allowed between the shopping center, Columbia Boulevard and subdivisions to the west. She said a walking path from the neighborhood to Underwood Crossing should be built in such a way so that motorists do not think they can travel on it.


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