Luxury Apartments May Come To Former Brookfield Toys 'R' Us Site

BROOKFIELD, WI—Several hundred luxury apartments could be coming to Brookfield if city council gives the green light. Wingspan Development Group LLC is looking to build 231 "dwelling units" at the former Toys “R” Us store, which is located at 355 South Moorland Rd.

A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for Tuesday night, July 21. The development company wants to demolish the vacant retail store near Brookfield Square in order to redevelop the site, which would ultimately consist of two large buildings in its place.

Plans for the development, which would take up 4.88 acres, include a pool, fitness center, yoga studio, community clubhouse, pet spa and creative working spaces, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The projects also involves rezoning the lot from Office and Limited Residential/Commercial District to Planned Development District General Plan - Residential.

According to the public hearing notice, community benefits of the project would include:

• Redevelopment of a difficult and complex site toward a currently unmet use recommended in the neighborhood plan.
• High quality architecture and building construction featuring long lasting sustainable materials.
• Parking easement permitting Brookfield Conference Center to utilize surface parking along Sheraton Drive.
• Contribution toward improvements of nearby, off-site intersections per Traffic Impact Analysis recommendations alongside other cooperative access improvements with surrounding properties.
• Increase in tax revenue with lesser impact on schools and other services.
• Significant increase in nearby customer base supporting evening and weekend market for
• Brookfield Square retail, restaurant, and entertainment uses.

In May, however, Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he didn't think the site is a good location for retail or another hotel.

"A residential property is an attractive use for that site. It brings a lot of people to that area, and it helps rejuvenate that area," Ponto told the newspaper.

If the project is approved, it would be built next to the Sheraton Hotel and the new 168-room Hilton Garden Inn hotel and attached 54,000-square-foot Brookfield Conference Center, Milwaukee Business News reported.