Post#28 » by smauss » Wed Jan 21, 2015 10:17 pm
A really interesting discussion here folks - Thanks! My take is that the whole Wisconsin Av location thing has some validity BUT two words kinda change things: "Grand Avenue". Yeah, the Park East is less than dynamic from a locational standpoint, but there is a vast difference in the importance of location in real estate based on use. There are some uses that are truly location dependent (IE: C-Stores, big box retail stores (any store beginning with the letter "Wal"). Uses that are commuter/foot traffic/ convenience dependent will pay huge dollars for a particular corner. I've appraised probably 150 c-stores in the metro milwaukee area and it is truly remarkable how location plays a tremendous difference in income. An example where two c-stores directly accross the street from each other on a major commuter/commercial corridor. Same vintage building, same size building (exactly), same number of fuel dispensers, same merchandise mix, same income streams, yet one did almost 3 times the business. When I and my co-appraiser where looking at the data and searching for reasons, it became very apparent. The very successful c-store was on the way home while the one directly accross the street was on the way to work. No circle graph or traffic count data would have told you that. I tell that long story to make the point of the importance of specific locations to specific businesses. I would consider the arena and the other development attached to be what I call, "destination based." Patrons generally decide this place as a destination rather than stop as a matter of convenience. The key to a destination based development is exactly the types of businesses that are attached and the draw of the cornerstone of the development (IE:Arena). I do believe it important to establish good linkages within the development as well as to the main commercial corridors, including parking, but I don't believe it necessary for this type of development to be on or in very close proximity to the main commercial corridor.
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