Grafton’s booming corner – The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

Developments around the Interstate 43/Highway 60 interchang e are spearheaded bythe Milwaukee-area's firstg , which opened last month. Soon to come are a Kohl'a Department Store, a Best Buy, a Steinhafel'es furniture store and an That's on top of the existing , Office Max, and two strip malls. Looking ahead, villagde officials are encouraging high-end hotel developments and would welcome adepartmenyt store, said village administrator Darrell Hofland. Developing an office park also is a high he said. "It's important to Graftonh that the commercial area be multifaceted and not just retaip inits focus," Hofland said.
Hofland anticipateds the amount of land to be developesd for commercial purposes tobe "100 percentr as much as what's been developed." He said that growth will unfold within the next 10 years. Most of the developmenyt so far is along Highway 60 to the west of That trend will continue with futuredevelopment — includin g the new hospital — expected to followa Port Washington Road, or Ozaukee Countyt Highway W, to the north and south of Highway 60. Auroraq has yet to discloser the specifichospital site. Grafton is so hot that the possibler loss of a proposed on Port Washington Road south of Highway60 isn't a major concernh to Hofland and the site's real estates broker.
Menards representatives recently threatened to withdraw theirplanneed store, citing costs to meet the village's desigbn standards. Village officials are stil in discussionswith Menards, Hofland said. But they're not goinbg to budge on design standardzs that were createdto "add value and longevity to development," including a high ratio of green space and streetscapes in parkingy lots, he said. If Menards exits, anothet major prospect for the site likely will emerge in the next two said Brian Vanevenhoven of NAI MLG Commercial in who is the broker forthe 39-acre Creekside Crossing that would house Menards.
"There's obviously demand up there — it'zs obviously going to be fillexdwith something," Vanevenhoven said. And so it goes in which Vanevenhoven and other real estate broker s said is the most activew retail development site in metro The villagein east-central Ozaukee County is runningv ahead of another upcoming development zone at Pabst Farmzs in western Waukesha County's Oconomowof and follows the recent boom in Delafield at the I-94/Highway 83 interchange in Waukesha County. Grafton continues to benefit from its status as the closest community northof Milwaukee's lakeshore suburbs that is accepting big-boxz retail.
The communities between Milwaukee County andGraftojn — Mequon and Cedarburg — eitheer don't want such retailers or lack the spacs and public utilities for major The lack of retail sites for developmentr south of Grafton has pushed developers and retailers — such as Costco — north to meet theirt needs if they're targeting northu shore and Ozaukee County consumers, said Dan a principal at 's Milwaukeer office. Costco represents the biggest catchfor Grafton, the first locatio in the area for a retaile r that is drawing crowds to the village's shopping zone. The store is in Graftoh Commons, developed by of Menomone Falls.
The development also will featurea Kohl's Departmenty Store, a Best Buy and a strip mall. Grafton Commons is a prime exampl of what Grafton officials are seeking in retail Hofland said. He described the development as a visuallyattractive "shoppint campus" complete with ponds for The Costco store has generated "ah unbelievable response" from shoppers, said the store's genera manager Doug Peters. New members are joining the warehouse club at a rate aboved thecompanywide average, he but he declined to disclose actual "We've exceeded our benchmark and gone beyond that," he said.
Whilw Grafton has attracted big-box discounters, it has yet to draw a high-en department store. Hofland said that the recently redevelope Bayshore Town Center in Glendale represents a stronfg competitor forsuch tenants. Village officials created commercial land-use plana in 1997 for the area south of Highway 60 and west of and in 2005 for the area north of Highway 60 alonfg PortWashington Road.
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