Former Warehouse Buildings to be Converted to a Shopping Center Anchored by Nordstrom Rack and Dick’s Sporting Goods

Officials from HSA Commercial joined leaders from the City of Wauwatosa to celebrate the groundbreaking of Phase I of The Mayfair Collection, a large-scale, mixed-use development at Highway 45 and Burleigh Street in suburban Milwaukee, Wis. Phase I of the project will consist of adaptively repurposing functionally obsolete warehouse buildings along Highway 45 into new, contemporary retail environments that, through innovative design, celebrate the property’s industrial heritage.

From Left to Right: Alec Zocher of Premier Design + Build, Tim Blum of HSA Commercial, Mayor Kathy Ehley, Chris Thomas of TOA Architects, Tom Gilgenbach of JSD Professional Services, and Ald. Craig Wilson

The Mayfair Collection project has attracted interest from unique, best-in-class retailers seeking their first locations in suburban Milwaukee and in the trade area of nearby Mayfair Mall, the primary regional shopping destination in the state of Wisconsin. Nordstrom Rack, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ulta Cosmetics, and other category-leading retailers have signed leases for the development’s first phase which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2014.

“Our leasing efforts target the best possible retailers that will keep the Mayfair Mall trade area at the center of the retail universe in Wisconsin,” said Tim Blum, executive vice president with HSA Commercial. “Attracting that type of regional traffic will be essential in kick-starting a long-term development plan that achieves the ambitious vision that we share with the community of Wauwatosa.”

Leaders and project partners from HSA Commercial celebrate the groundbreaking of The Mayfair Collection.

Last November, the City of Wauwatosa’s Common Council and HSA agreed on a proposal to create a tax increment financing district that will provide $8.5 million to cover infrastructure costs necessary to support the project. The highly-visible 69-acre site, known as the “Burleigh Triangle”—which is formed by Highway 45 to the west, Burleigh Street to the south, and the Union Pacific Railroad to the east—has been underutilized and targeted for redevelopment by City officials for years. While Phase I of The Mayfair Collection is primarily retail, the project’s additional phases contemplate the development of multi-family, office, and medical components subject to future market demand for those uses.

A backhoe tears into an existing Burleigh Triangle warehouse building.

Des Plaines, Ill.-based Premier Design + Build will serve as general contractor for the project, and Evanston, Ill.-based TOA Architects is responsible for the design.