Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The ambitious plans for the corner of Drexel and Howell continue to move ahead, with work under way at the site now and a public hearing coming up in June.
Progress on Oak Creek's much-publicized Drexel Town Square development comes in both visible and invisible ways. Visible work is happening now at the corner of Drexel and Howell avenues, where several trucks and workers are digging up concrete at the 85-acre site. That work will continue until the end of July, and the concrete will be re-used within the development. The invisible: the Drexel Town Square site plan has begun moving through the city government review process, with a public hearing set for June 18 and a final Oak Creek Common Council vote sometime soon after that. "Given the complexities of the commercial real estate market, the financing market and everything else that's been going on since the crash of 2008, I feel we're …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Mayor Steve Scaffidi answered dozens of questions in the inaugural State of the City event April 24.
We tackled a lot of topics in Wednesday night's State of the City with Mayor Steve Scaffidi, who got an unofficial total of 41 questions from the 50 or so people in the audience, those following our live blog and Patch users who submitted questions ahead of time. Unsurprisingly, the Drexel Town Square development was the top issue on residents' minds, and not just the details of the project itself: the event also showed a great concern about how the development will impact traffic. Most of the traffic issues—like the placement of new stoplights on Howell and Drexel avenues, right and left turns onto Howell and other alterations—will be worked out over time, Scaffidi said. One thing that is known, however, is that 6th Street will go …
Monday, April 22, 2013
Geothermal systems, which tap into the earth for energy, would save the city money in the long run but require a large initial investment.
Oak Creek is considering a geothermal system to heat the new city hall-library building that will be constructed in the Drexel Town Square development. A geothermal system, which taps into the earth to produce energy, could save the city almost 30 percent on utility bills, officials said. But it would also add about $320,000 to the project. The city wants to install the system but has to find the revenue to make the initial purchase, City Administrator Gerald Peterson said. It would take an estimated 11 years for the city to recover its costs, according to Sustainable Engineering Group, which made a presentation about the system to the Oak Creek Common Council last week. The city has set a budget of $19.5 million to construct and furnish …
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Crews have begun removing concrete that covers many of the 85 acres at Drexel and Howell avenues. The concrete will be re-used in the Drexel Town Square development.
The work to remove concrete at the former Delphi site and prepare the land for redevelopment has begun. Trucks showed up earlier this week on the 85 empty acres at Drexel and Howell avenues. It will take about 90 days for crews to take out all the concrete, which will be re-used within the Drexel Town Square development project, City Administrator Gerald Peterson said. Plans for the Drexel Town Square call for a new downtown for Oak Creek, with first-floor shops and second-floor apartments leading to a town square. On the south side of the town square will be a combination library-city hall building. West of the downtown, 500 to 600 high-end apartments are planned; a Meijer store is proposed for the eastern portion of the 85-acre property…
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Development agreements approved by the Oak Creek Common Council Tuesday night bring both projects one step closer to the beginning of construction.
Two major development projects in Oak Creek, the Drexel Town Square and a planned business park on Oakwood Road, continue to inch toward construction. The Oak Creek Common Council on Tuesday approved development agreements with Wispark, which owns both properties. Under the agreements, the developer will pay for infrastructure improvements—such as sanitary sewer, drainage facilities, roads, traffic signals and sidewalks—through a tax-incremental financing district. TIF districts allow developers or municipalities to borrow money to pay for infrastructure, and use the increased tax increment generated by the new development to pay off the loan. Wispark is the development arm of We Energies. Its projects are paid for by shareholders, not …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
The headquarters of Bukacek Construction could become part of the Drexel Town Square development.
Updated 3:45 p.m. Wednesday A Racine construction company plans to relocate its headquarters to Oak Creek and possibly become part of the Drexel Town Square development. Bukacek Construction, founded in 1963, is currently based at 2429 Summit Ave in Racine. Bukacek CEO Gregg Thompson is excited about the Drexel Town Square plans and has already told his employees about the move, according to Steve Chamberlin, the owner's representative on the project. "This guy is excited," Chamberlin told the Oak Creek Common Council Monday. "He's already announced to the whole company that they're going to be moving their corporate headquarters to Oak Creek. Hopefully affiliated with Drexel Town Square, if not, somewhere else in Oak Creek." A company …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Officials also unveiled floor plans and renderings for the city hall and library, as well as plans for freeway signs and concrete removal.
News on the Drexel Town Square project continues to pour out as developers and city officials move forward on the development at Drexel and Howell avenues. Among the items of note from Monday's Oak Creek Common Council meeting was that senior housing has a "real strong possibility" of being included on the site, according to City Administrator Gerald Peterson. The housing could go south of the city hall and library (near Woodman's) on what the site plan currently shows as an open area. "There's a fairly significant green space that could potentially be either expanded parking, if it's needed; storm water (retention) areas; or possibly some additional building," he said. "We think that this site, both on our property and potentially on the …
Friday, February 15, 2013
It was a busy week for Drexel Town Square news and plenty of Patch readers had something to say about it.
Oak Creek officials weren't kidding when they said the Drexel Town Square project would heat up in early 2013. This week, more than 200 residents attended a public meeting in which developers presented the most updated plans for the former Delphi site, at the corner of Drexel and Howell avenues. Many Oak Creek residents focused on the Meijer component of the project, as Patch detailed in this Feb. 12 story. The proposal for a big box store has been criticized since news leaked in December and continued that way this week. Patch readers were also vocal. Cory: I don't really see why they keep saying they need an anchor store to bring traffic to the area. It's right next to Woodmans, which already brings plenty of traffic as well as being …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Brick 3 Pizza, owned by developer Rick Barrett, will have a location on the Main Street area of Drexel Town Square, according to a report.
Community leaders and developers of the Drexel Town Square project have heard loud and clear Oak Creek residents' desire for new restaurants to be part of the development. On Wednesday, the first known restaurant emerged. Brick 3 Pizza, a New York-style pizzeria with locations on Old World Third Street and Milwaukee Street in downtown Milwaukee, will have a location on the Main Street area of Drexel Town Square, according Patch's media partners at BizTimes Milwaukee. The restaurant is owned by Rick Barrett, who is developing the residential portion of the project. Brick 3 is expected to be one of multiple food options at the development. City officials and developers are hoping to attract more restaurants to the downtown portion as well as…
This video, shown to the public during a Feb. 11 meeting, provides the best visual to date of what's planned for the Drexel Town Square development.
It's hard to get a better visual for what's planned for the Drexel Town Square development than through this animated video created by Rinka Chung Architecture. The video, which was shown at the Feb. 11 public meeting on the development, guides viewers through the downtown, town square and new neighborhood planned for the former Delphi site, 7929 S. Howell Ave. Rinka Chung Architecture is designing the site and helping connect all the pieces together. Plans call for a new city hall and library, about 500 to 600 apartments, restaurants, Oak Creek's first downtown and a Meijer store. See this Patch story for more on what residents had to say at Monday's meeting.
vocal local 1
9:14 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
Wal-Mart, the single largest retailer, to the list. Wal-Mart just reported that same-store sales fell 1.4%. Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/wal-mart-warns-of-economic-disaster-are-you-prepared/#fVORLRSiEylt6iag.99 more ›