Oconomowoc Downtown Project?? (Brookfield: house, theater, closing)

[labmom1]

A question for those of you that live in/near downtown Oconomowoc - will the downtown revitalization project really bring in new businesses?? Do they have establishments wanting to move in or was this a "bulid it and they will come" approach? Just curious...we are spying a house in the Merchant Plat area and the downtown looks like it could be really cute but right now it also looks fairly vacant. Just wondering what the locals think???

[Jim Mac]

That was just a "sprucing up, so it looks better" project. They widened the road in some areas, put in brick sidewalks, a turn-around in town, new lights, etc. It's still all the same businesses. I don't know why you say it looks "fairly vacant". There's no vacant stores that I know of.

[labmom1]

Thanks for the info. Vacant as in not a lot of foot traffic, but maybe we are just hitting it at the wrong times of day/week during our visits.

[slamont61]

This is a valid question.

To me the Downtown in Oconomowoc does not seem very vacant. If you were to compare it to other towns in similar population, Oconomowoc may seem in better shape. I'm quite fond of Oconomowoc's wonderful mainstreet but am thinking that the traffic is on the heavy side and for the most part through traffic, not local.

I would worry a bit about the vitality of the city with the new Mall being built by I-94, can the region sustain the additional businesses as well as keep those in existance a float?

The Bypass was way too many years in the making and it's effectivness may have been dealt a blow by the lenght of time it took to build. However the City in adding a round-about will definately make it a better flowing area than it was. I'm a real fan of that sort of traffic control as it seems to work very well. It surely did in Okauchee. I always laughed at Brookfield when those residents fought the concept over and over and over. What possible win does that sort of fight expect?

I like the volume of foot traffic but also think it can increase after all the projects are done. The Mall being the only question mark here.

[Jim Mac]

There's not a lot of foot traffic because it's cold here in January.

[labmom1]

Our visits were in September - when it was beautiful :-)

[catfeathers]

Yes...the downtown project is complete, and new businesses are moving in...we now have a Martini Bar!

ALthough, the project did have an economic effect on the businesses that were there...so several closed or are currently closing.
And I know there were and still are, vacancies....the old shoe store has been vacant for years, as well as a few others (especially in the old theater mall). Some have been occupied by several short term businesses, so those locations may have been empty as well. I drive through there just about every day!

However...I do believe that we will see more great businesses starting up, because the town is a nice place to visit.

There is never much foot traffic really, and I liked the comment about winter! The only time you see foot traffic in
the winter is Gallery Night in November!