Parking Structure Would Pave Way For Large Drexel Town Square Tenant

A parking structure shown on the plans for Drexel Town Square offers hints about a potential larger business that city officials say would "require more parking than we could accommodate" at the site. 

The parking structure would be built on the northwest side of the site. Initial discussions for that area of the 85-acre former Delphi property, at the corner of Drexel and Howell avenues, has included a large medical office building or recreational uses, Community Development Director Doug Seymour said.

A four- to six-story lodging facility is also proposed for that part of the development, Wispark President Jerry Franke said.

However, nothing has been finalized—the parking structure is shown on the plans just to "illustrate what could happen there," Seymour said.

“It’s not something we’re putting in there on Day 1,” Seymour said. “It’s almost entirely user-dependent.”

Formal announcements on businesses won’t happen until after the Oak Creek Common Council officially adopts the Drexel Town Square site plan, officials have said. A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for June 18; the council vote would come sometime after that.

Drexel Town Square plans call for a "Main Street" area with first-floor shops and second-floor apartments leading to a town square; a combination city hall-library building on the south side of the town square; a Meijer store on the east; and apartments on the west.

Leaders of the project plan to break ground on at least one component of the plan—the city hall/library building—later this year.

While no official announcements have been made, the names of some potential businesses have trickled out. They include a construction firm that wants to relocate its headquarters to Drexel Town Square and Brick 3 Pizza, a restaurant owned by one of the project's developers, Rick Barrett.