Bayshore Town Center wants housing, offices to replace stores -- with Glendale financing help
The long-awaited plan to redevelop Glendale’s troubled Bayshore Town Center calls for more housing and offices, and less retail space — along with millions of dollars of city financing help.
The result, if the $75 million proposal wins city approval, would be a reinventing of Bayshore, including a possible hotel — following a national trend of boosting lagging shopping malls with housing and other new uses.
The plans include demolishing large portions of Bayshore — reducing its retail space by 37 percent.
"I understand why they are doing it with the challenges retail has had going up against online retailers," said Rachel Reiss, city administrator.
Bayshore, which has several vacant stores, would see new apartments, aimed at older people, built at its northern end.
That would fill space left empty when the closed Sears department store was demolished in fall 2017.
Also, the older mall portion of Bayshore, which was renovated just over a decade ago, and the former Boston Store would be demolished and replaced with new uses.
The older mall space, which includes the food court, local retailers and other businesses, would be replaced by a medical office building and open space.
The former Boston Store, which closed in August, and its parking lot would be divided into three parcels, which would have apartments, a hotel and an office building.
The conceptual proposal also calls for apartments to be built on vacant space between North Lydell Avenue and a mall parking structure.
In addition, new retail space would be developed on part of Bayshore's parking lot along North Port Washington Road near the former Sears site.
Other improvements would include upgrades to Bayshore's town square. Those plans call for having an ice skating rink during the winter, and a fire pit during the summer.
The extensive redevelopment project could run from 2019 through 2021.
More than 40 Bayshore tenants, including Bar Louie, Forever 21, Old Navy, Trader Joe's, Cheesecake Factory and H&M, would remain. Kohl's, which owns its building, would continue to operate there.
Also, Total Wine & More would join that lineup with a 22,800-square-foot store.
The chain, which entered the Milwaukee area in recent years, would become Bayshore's third-largest store after Kohl's and Barnes & Noble.
Other details, such as how many apartments would be built, the size of the possible hotel and the amount of new office space, were not included in conceptual plans released Wednesday by city officials.
Glenn Miller, of Dallas-based Cypress Equities, which drafted the proposal, said additional information isn't yet available because those plans are still in flux.
Cypress represents Bayshore’s owner, an affiliate of New York-based global financial services provider American International Group Inc.
The conceptual plans are to be reviewed by the Glendale Community Development Authority and the Glendale Common Council on Nov. 15.
The plans are included in a proposed amendment to the tax incremental financing district that Glendale used to help finance Bayshore Town Center, which opened in 2006.
The new property tax revenue generated by Bayshore Town Center, which converted Bayshore Mall into a mix of new retail, offices and apartments, has been paying down that financing district debt.
The proposed amendment says American International Group, known as AIG, would assume responsibility for paying off Glendale's remaining tax financing debt of $56.6 million.
It also says AIG would invest up to $75 million in the new redevelopment proposal.
In return, property taxes generated by those new apartments, offices, hotel and retail space would be paid annually to AIG to pay back part of the firm's investment.
The exact amount that would be provided to AIG would be negotiated later if the tax financing district amendment is approved, Reiss said.
That amendment would likely extend the date for paying off the financing district debt from 2029 to 2033, she said.
That extension is needed for the financing district to obtain further redevelopment and "achieve economic stability," according to the proposal.
Once that debt is paid off, Bayshore's property tax payments will flow to the city's general fund, its school district and other local governments.
Redevelopment plan part of national trend
Both the additional financing help and detailed project plans would need separate approvals from the Community Development Authority and Common Council.
AIG acquired Bayshore in December in return for not foreclosing on the mortgage loan owed by the previous operator, New York-based Olshan Properties. The property transfer was valued at $97.4 million.
The 2006 transformation at Bayshore created several new store and restaurant buildings on a street grid, while also renovating the old mall space.
Also, a new office building, apartments and parking structures were constructed.
But Bayshore has faced challenges in recent years during a time in which malls are losing sales to Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers.
Bayshore businesses that have closed in 2018 include iPic Entertainment Inc.’s movie theater, Pinstrikes bowling alley and Big Daddy’s Brew + Que, as well as stores operated by J. Crew and Vera Bradley.
AIG's redevelopment proposal follows a national trend for creating such mixed-use projects.
In the Milwaukee area, Brookfield Square is replacing a former Sears department store with a Marcus Theatres BistroPlex restaurant and cinema complex, a WhirlyBall entertainment center and a Hilton Garden Inn.
Also, newer area developments that combine stores, restaurants and apartments include The Corners, in the Town of Brookfield; Mayfair Collection, in Wauwatosa; Whitestone Station, in Menomonee Falls; and 84 South, in Greenfield.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.