Village Board approves medical facility in Falls

The site that was once home to the Stolper/Western Industries Inc. factory in Menomonee Falls will soon become a medical and wellness facility.

After months of environmental cleanup at the factory site located west of Pilgrim Road and south of Highway 45, the Menomonee Falls Village Board Monday approved a conditional use permit for Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. for the construction of a two-story, 91,000 square foot dual tenant medical and wellness building.

Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald said Froedtert Health Inc. and the Wisconsin Athletic Club will occupy the development. Construction of the facility is slated to begin in December and must be completed by December 2013 per the tax incremental development agreement that was also approved Monday. The facility will include doctors, nurses and support staff offering a variety of medical services and treatments. The WAC portion of the building will feature a 47,500 square foot athletic club, offering health and fitness services, an indoor and outdoor pool, large fitness areas, group exercise rooms, saunas, steam rooms, tanning and massage rooms. It will also house a 4,931 square foot retail space to be filled with related businesses.

The development will sit on the north side of Richfield Way, a roadway that the village will begin expanding in coming weeks and is meant to act as a buffer between the commercial development and future residential development.

The property is part of tax incremental finance district No. 8 in a planned development district. The village purchased the property from Western Industries for $600,000. The village is spending $4.7 million on demolishing the former factory and doing the cleanup work.

That money will be repaid through property taxes generated by development within the TIF district.