Developer builds $16 million plan for retail project

Future bypass site selected in Waupaca

By Maureen Wallenfang
Post-Crescent staff writer

WAUPACA — The planned bypass on the city’s east side spurred the birth of a $16 million retail project.

Baltimore-based shopping center developer Michael Klein announced plans Wednesday to create the Waupaca East Gateway, a 312,000-square-foot mixed-use project on the southeast quadrant of the new U.S. 10-State 22-54 interchange due to open in two weeks.

The interchange and U.S. 10 overpass was moved ahead of schedule because of the number of accidents at U.S. 10 and State 22. The bypass is on the state Department of Transportation schedule to be completed in 2007.

The ambitious project on a 40-acre tract could include a major retailer, a strip center of stores, a pharmacy, a hotel, restaurants, a convenience store and a potential auto dealership.

“It’s a feather in our cap,” said Waupaca Mayor Brian Smith. “This is what we were looking for when we envisioned the bypass. A project like this, of this magnitude, in that area, will get everything jump-started for us.”

Just as the State 441 bypass created new retail opportunities on the outskirts of the Fox Cites, those involved in the project envision Waupaca’s bypass and new interchange as a boost for development.

“It will dramatically change the shopping and retail patterns in the Waupaca area,” said Russell Meerdink, principal of Meerdink & Associates, the Appleton-based commercial real estate firm that is handing the project’s marketing.

Meerdink said the Waupaca East Gateway is in its earliest stages and is part of the Dodge and Ron Brooks family farm.

“Michael Klein has entered into an agreement with the Brooks family to buy the property. He has the option to purchase it, but there are certain things that have to happen first,” Meerdink said. “You can’t even get to the property yet. It will open to traffic in two to three weeks. The next part of the puzzle is to bring utilities — sewer and water — to this particular property. The city has engineered the routes and is in the first stages of annexing the property to the TIF district.”

With everything in place, Meerdink said construction could start as early as the fall of 2004.

So far, no tenants have been signed to the property, and Klein has not yet officially submitted his development plan to the city for approval.

“We have significant interest from a number of major players,” Klein said in a prepared release. “But until we have the infrastructure in place, it’s a bit premature to enter into any binding agreements.”

Klein anticipates the $16 million project will create nearly 500 new jobs.

Klein’s development company, Klein Enterprises, controls and manages more than 2.5 million square feet of retail space along the mid-Atlantic seaboard. Last summer, he married Waupaca native Jennifer Ebert, and splits his time between Waupaca and Baltimore.

Maureen Wallenfang can be reached at 920-993-1000, ext. 287, or by e-mail at mwallenfang@postcrescent.com