Owner of Hobby Lobby building seeks new development

The College-Rawson segment of 27th Street keeps improving. Last week, Milwaukee Burger Company and Oscar's will be taking over two vacant buildings along the strip. Now, news has come that the new owner of the property that has the new Hobby Lobby is looking to find tenants for the remaining vacant portions of the building, along with possibly dividing up the parking lot to get another new retail structure built.

Over the weekend, the Milwaukee Business Journal covered the foreclosure of the Hobby Lobby building and property, which has had its series of issues since Ashley Furniture left the building portion. Since then, while Hobby Lobby filled a good portion of the building that fronts 27th Street, a large portion which housed a former Menards and Ashley warehouse remains vacant, and the parking lot isn't all that great in comparison with its neighboring properties.

What can be done? While parceling out the parking lot to have the possibility for a retailer or a fast food operation is a good idea and opportunity for 27th Street, what residents have been clamoring for is the desire for actual sit-down restaurants. Additionally, the property's issues regarding the warehouse portion of the building won't be a quick fix. The property to the south being virtually undevelopable due to being a superfund waste site doesn't help in expanding opportunities to redevelop the property and perhaps expand retailers onto the open lands.

Taking small steps forward and rehabbing the parking lot by adding a new business along 27th Street is a good start. As for the superfund site, Common Council President Kristen Wilhelm, who represents the area, has brought forward opportunities to explore and perhaps utilize federal brownfield grants to help get that valuable land developed into something more useful than its current fenced-off status.