By Addison Lathers of the Milwaukee Business Journal
A refreshed and “right-sized” plan for a public market at Brookfield Square mall garnered the unanimous support of Brookfield’s Plan Commission on Monday evening.
The commission voted to recommend granting incentives worth nearly $19.5 million to the project, which would be the “keystone” of Irgens Partners’ redevelopment of the former Boston Store at the mall.
The Brookfield Public Market, revealed in June, is planned to feature a number of smaller merchants and larger retailers as well as 8,000 square feet of outdoor event space. It would complement a planned medical building and two other retail buildings there.
The idea is that a market would help reinvigorate the mall by serving as an attraction on its own as well as an incubator for independent businesses along the Bluemound Road corridor.
During a public hearing held at the Plan Commission, several residents spoke and provided letters in support of the development, including Newmark Managing Director Rachel Schmidt, who said a market could be key for retaining and attracting the next generation of professionals to Brookfield.
It also could serve as an amenity to the neighboring Executive Drive office park that is struggling with high vacancy post-Covid, she said.
“I’m working with these business owners to evaluate all markets, and it is very competitive,” Schmidt told the commission. “Setting Brookfield apart with a destination like the public market and Irgens’ proposed developments, such as they’ve already done in Golf Parkway Corporate Center to include Life Time and successful office buildings, is very synergistic and impactful.”