BY MICHAEL BURKE
Journal Times | Posted: Thursday, January 10, 2008 12:00 am
MOUNT PLEASANT - A retail project seven years in the making will soon emerge at one of the area's busiest corners - highways 20 and 31.
Big Bend Development of Brookfield has begun construction of a 16,250-square-foot retail center at the intersection's northwest corner. Four tenants are already committed, including two restaurants new to Racine County.
The 2.25-acre site lies near the shopping center which includes Sentry Foods and Kohl's Department Store. One of the two access points will be from that center. The other will be a shared driveway with Advance Auto Parts and Taco Bell on Highway 20.
Peter Schwabe, one of Big Bend's owners, said the 60- by 280-foot center will be ready for tenants by summer.
Schwabe described the architecture as first-class and "four-sided" - the latter meaning there is no rear side left
unadorned.
Despite the intersection's huge traffic count, that corner remained vacant for many years before Brookfield-based Big Bend could break ground. "We have been working on this for several years," Schwabe said.
For Sean Osborne, the leasing agent involved, it's been a lot longer than that.
"It's been seven years in the making," he said, amending Schwabe's statement. "I have had it forever."
Osborne, senior vice president for Inland Cos. of Milwaukee, said the deal was extremely complicated. Big Bend does not own the land. Not only is it a land lease, something Osborne said isn't common - it's actually a sublease of the land from
B&G Realty.
But Inland and Big Bend are well on their way toward filling the retail spaces, with about 60 percent of the space committed. The tenants, Osborne said, are:
n Georgie Porgie's, a
restaurant with a treehouse atmosphere that is described as a "burger and custard hangout." The only other one of its kind is at 9555 S. Howell Ave., Oak Creek. For more on Georgie Porgie's, go to:
http://www.georgieporgies.com
n Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwich Shop, a national franchise based in Champaign, Ill. The nearest Jimmy John's franchises are in Kenosha, Oak Creek and Franklin. For more information, go to:
http://www.jimmyjohns.com
n A men's hair salon with a sports theme which Osborne declined to name yet - although he hinted it could be Sports Clips, another national franchise. He said the contract should be signed within days.
n A national cellular phone retailer. Osborne said Inland also is working to land a larger retailer which would take about 4,000 square feet of space. That would make it the largest at the center and fill two-thirds of the remaining space.