Expansion of New Berlin's Westridge Business Park proposed with city financing help
Tom Daykin
A New Berlin business park would undergo a large expansion, partly financed with city funds, under a new proposal.
Westridge Business Park would add 127 acres west of S. Moorland Road, between Small Road and College Ave., under plans pending before city officials.
Those plans call for creating a tax incremental financing district in that area to help pay for developing the site. It's now mainly farm land.
The proposal calls for the city to spend up to $27.5 million in phases over 15 years as the land is developed. Those funds would be repaid through new property taxes generated by those developments.
Most of the buildings would be constructed for light industrial and office use. The plan also envisions retail space at the intersection of Moorland Road and College Ave.
The city funds would help pay for new sewers, water mains, roads and other public improvements. Some of the funds also could be used as incentives to attract new development.
The road work would include expanding Moorland Road, rebuilding Small Road and reconstructing the intersection of Small and Calhoun roads.
Among the first projects would be a $900,000 new road that would provide access west of Moorland Road to the proposed district's first commercial development: a light industrial building planned by Briohn Building Corp.
The Common Council in September approved plans for that 192,800-square-foot multi-tenant building, which Briohn plans to build this year at 6051 S. Moorland Road.
That building will have an estimated value of $15.1 million, according to a city Department of Community Development report.
The tax financing district's project plan will undergo a Plan Commission public hearing on Jan. 10. It's scheduled for Common Council review on Feb. 13.
Any future spending would require additional council approvals.
Westridge's first phase was built in 1995, near I-43 and Moorland Road. It has expanded since then, and its businesses include BuySeasons Inc., Landmark Credit Union and Beechwood Sales and Service.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com, and followed on Twitter and Facebook.