By Thomas J. McKillen
Managing Editor

The pace of development at a vacant industrial property in Menomonee Falls will speed up over the next few months.
Menomonee Falls Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald provided an update to the Village Board of the development of the village's eighth tax incremental finance (TIF) district, which includes a onetime industrial property west of Pilgrim Road, north of Roosevelt Drive and south of Hwy. 41/45.
“Frankly, this has been a long and tedious process but it’s pretty nice to be where we’re at,” Fitzgerald said.
The site is referred to locally as the "Stolper" property after a steel company that operated a facility there at one time. The industrial building was razed in 2010.

Stepping in for redevelopment
TIF 8 was created in 2008 and a year later the village reached an agreement with Western Industries for the purchase of the Stolper site. The land was appraised for $5.3 million. The village agreed to purchase the site once all remediation was done. Since then, a site assessment has been done and a remediation action plan has been developed.
Fitzgerald noted the agreement with Western Industries included a provision for an early sale if the village chose. Fitzgerald said the village has negotiated with Western Industries for a sale since the start of the year, which was finalized April 13. Fitzgerald said the village paid $600,000 for the property, but said the cost will still be $5.3 million due to demolition, cleanup, and preparing the property for new development.
“Our costs are still $5.3 million but we were able to close early because over the past three years we learned all about the site, we learned about the magnitude of the cleanup, the cost of the cleanup, we got the approved remediation plan. All of the known variables became clear and we could move forward,” Fitzgerald said.

The cost of cleanup
Fitzgerald noted that the 17-acre Stolper property had a face value of  $106.50 per acre.
“That property was amazingly undervalued relative to any legitimate circumstance in the village,” Fitzgerald said.
Citing the estimated total value of $1,800 for the industrial property, Fitzgerald — warning in advance about the coming sarcasm — quipped that “most of us would have a garden shed in our backyard that would be valued higher than that.”
He then added that the total tax bill for the property was $36. Fitzgerald further explained that assessments for industrial properties are done by a state agency. The appraised value remained at $5.3 million.
“There is no real, legitimate connection between the assessed valuation of that property and the appraised value as a highest and best use value moving forward,” Fitzgerald said.
After the industrial building was knocked down in 2010, the assessment was changed.
According to Fitzgerald, the village Community Development Authority  completed the acquisition of the property April 13 and remedial work began last week. Fitzgerald said the property purchase was finalized after the village received information detailing the amount of cleanup at the property. There are three portions of the property that are contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and one location that has petroleum-based substances. The property will have to be remediated before it can be developed any further.
Fitzgerald said that near-surface remediation began April 17 while deep soil remediation will begin July 16 and take two weeks. He said that the remediation “will pretty much look like a construction project” with backhoes, dump truck and low-tech equipment used to treat the soils until contamination levels are tested and are below federal standards. Any soils that can’t be treated will be removed from the site. That work will occur over the next three months.
“By early August the major amount of field work on that site will be done,” Fitzgerald said.
He added that even after field work is done, quarterly ground water monitoring will still need to be done for two years.

On the eve of a turnaround
The overall land use plan for the area calls for extending Richfield Way from Water Street east so that it will connect to Pilgrim Road. There will be commercial development north of Richfield Way along Hwy. 41/45 while multi-family units are planned south of Richfield Way to shield the residential areas south of Roosevelt Drive from the new development. Fitzgerald said that once all developments are completed, total valuation in the area will increase to increase to approximately $70 million.
The first phase of the Richfield Way project will begin in July  and go from the connection with Pilgrim Road to a halfway point, with the second half of the road being done next year.
Fitzgerald said the Stolper property area should be ready for potential private development by fall 2012.
“We are working on a fairly substantial redevelopment for that site and we needed to keep moving this project forward timely manner,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said the village and Ryan Companies are negotiating the terms of a redevelopment for the Stolper property. He said the proposed development project would be approximately 90,000 square feet and include medical, wellness and retail uses. Fitzgerald said the timeline calls for work on that development to begin in fall 2012 and be completed in summer 2013.
"The whole look of this area is going to change dramatically," Fitzgerald said. “This is a pretty exciting development for the community — I wish I could tell you more.”

Pilgrim Road changes
Fitzgerald also updated the board on plans for changes to Pilgrim Road. In 2014, the Department of Transportation will reconstruct and repave Pilgrim Road from Park Boulevard to Megal Drive.
“This will be a pretty significant change in the traffic capacity of Pilgrim Road through this area,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said work will include changes to the Main Street and Pilgrim Road intersection, with the addition of turn lane and flow through lanes.
The current intersection at Pilgrim Road and Roosevelt Drive will be adjusted, with Roosevelt Drive connecting to Richfield Way, which will then connect to Pilgrim Road. The Pilgrim Road/Richfield Way intersection will be “significantly enlarged from its current geometry,” Fitzgerald said.
North of Hwy. 41/45, Wacker Neuson and Harley-Davidson will combine their entrances into an access drive onto Pilgrim Road from Megal Drive. A new village street called Megal Court will be created that will flow traffic into Harley-Davidson and Wacker Neuson.