Retail consultant seeks to break "holding pattern" and move forward on recruitment efforts
A recent email from Buxton Group, the city-hired consultant to locate potential retailers for Franklin, shines a light on the slow progress to move forward bringing retailers to the city. In what is being viewed as a "holding pattern", the City of Franklin hasn't given the approvals allowing them to reach out to prospects interested in locating in the city.
With the focus on Mayor Olson and his administration, the Mayor has repeatedly pointed out that any letters sent out that could get a potential response should wait until the city hires an Economic Development Director. This has been supported by EDC Chairman Craig Haskins, who is open to volunteering his time and efforts to see Franklin moving forward in the areas of retail and dining, doesn't have an over abundance of said time to take many queries from retailers and restaurants. He too is a strong supporter of getting an Director hired sooner rather than later to take care of these recruitment efforts.
Reflecting concerns by residents that not enough has been happening in moving things forward, Common Council President Kristen Wilhelm has publicly disagreed with the idea of waiting for a Director before taking the next steps, and believes the city can handle any interested retailers while the city does its search for the Director position. She pointed out several retailers and restaurants have been opening up shop in the community, such as Hobby Lobby, Milwaukee Burger Company, Oscar's, and Dollar Tree, and have come to the city without the Director position being filled. She further argues that while Franklin "sits on the list", neighboring communities like Greendale and Oak Creek could be working the same retailers and rolling out the welcome mats for them.
The issue is how proactive Franklin wants to be in recruiting these opportunities, and how patient our leaders want to be to get it done. Based on a recent interview Franklin Today had with developer Mike Zimmerman, some developers want to get these projects done now versus waiting another 6-12 months. Will the city open up to work on getting that accomplished?
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Update 3/23/15 1:30pm: The infographic associated with this article, while a recent highlight by area real estate brokers in an effort to find tenants for 76th & Rawson strip malls, has a retail list that has changed. OfficeMax and Kindercare have both since closed their doors. Does this provide additional incentive by city leaders to move swiftly in efforts to either land an Economic Development Director or allowing recruitment efforts to begin?