A joint real estate fund formed by commercial mortgage lending specialists, Innovative Capital Advisors (ICA), and Chicago-based HSA Commercial Real Estate, a full-service real estate firm, recently purchased the Schwaab Stamp Factory building located at the southwest corner of Burleigh Street and 114th Street across from The Mayfair Collection in Wauwatosa, Wis. HSA Commercial plans to adaptively repurpose and expand the current light industrial building into a 32,000-square-foot multi-tenant retail shopping center that will complement the firm’s mixed-use development taking place across the street.

The Schwaab building, located at 11415 West Burleigh Street, is immediately south of The Mayfair Collection, a 270,000-square-foot retail shopping center anchored by Nordstrom Rack and Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH. The Mayfair Collection’s construction consisted of adaptively repurposing functionally obsolete warehouse buildings along Highway 45 into new, contemporary retail environments. The project’s second phase will be anchored by Whole Foods Market, which will be housed in a converted warehouse building at the northeast corner of Burleigh Street and 112th Street. Last week, HSA Commercial also announced an agreement with Fiduciary Real Estate Development to develop up to 1,050 luxury residences over seven to ten years on 22 acres of land next to The Mayfair Collection as part of a long-term plan to create a dynamic, mixed-use community that the developers refer to as “The District”.

“In a lot of ways, we see the Schwaab property as being a gateway to The District given its prominent visibility to travelers on Highway 45 and visitors of The Mayfair Collection,” said Tim Blum, executive vice president of Retail Development with HSA Commercial. “In order to achieve the City’s vision for a vibrant, mixed-use corridor, we necessarily have to redevelop this building into a retail flagship that will signify the transformation of this historically industrial area.”

HSA Commercial plans to break ground on the redevelopment in fall 2015 with delivery scheduled for retail tenants in summer 2016. The project design, created by Evanston, Ill.-based TOA Architects, will draw on themes from The Mayfair Collection and will incorporate materials and design elements that celebrate the industrial heritage of the Schwaab Stamp Factory property.

In June 2013, a separate joint venture between ICA and HSA Commercial acquired Plaza 173, a 92,000-square-foot retail shopping center in neighboring Brookfield, Wis., where the partnership is currently executing an ambitious redevelopment plan of that property.

Schwaab, a centuries-old manufacturer of stamp products, will relocate its operations to Brookfield, Wis. after a short-term lease at the existing facility.