WAUKESHA - We know that the long-vacant Kmart site on Sunset Drive has been slated for the future location of an Xperience Fitness, but what else could be coming to the development?

Maybe a drive-thru Starbucks coffee shop, if Mayor Jeff Scrima gets his wish.

During a Thursday morning Joint Review Board meeting, Scrima told commercial broker Jon Thoresen that several citizens have expressed a desire for a drive-thru coffee place in that part of the city, and asked for Starbucks to be considered.

Thoresen said he and his associates are attending a retail conference next week and plan to sit down with Starbucks, as well as a few other retailers, and hope to come out with letters of intent to locate there.

Dan Warren, who represents the Waukesha School District on the Joint Review Board, said the next board meeting will be after the conference, so the board will be able to see how successful Thoresen and his crew were.

Both the Plan Commission and Finance Committee have unanimously approved a resolution establishing a tax incremental financing district for the area.

The proposed multi-million-dollar development would transform the vacant Kmart into a shopping center featuring a gym, retail stores and more.

Community Development Director Steve Crandell explained to the Joint Review Board that the development would be located within a proposed tax incremental financing (TIF) district, and that the city could extend a $2.6 million “pay-as-you go” TIF to development firm Endeavor Corp., which would be paid as the tax value is realized.

Thoresen of Commercial Property Associates said representatives from Xperience Fitness have signed a letter of intent to take over 40,000 square feet of the former Kmart building, which has been vacant for several years. Xperience plans to relocate from its current, smaller location farther down Sunset Drive in a shopping center in the Town of Waukesha.

Crandell said the developer will invest $13 million into rehabilitating the existing building and constructing the two outlots.

He also said city staff hopes to build an underground flood mitigation system on the site, since the area is extremely prone to flooding.

The district would also include a proposed Meijer store, which Mayor Jeff Scrima recently announced is planned for the southeast corner of Sunset Drive and Tenny Avenue. Meijer would not receive any TIF funds, Scrima said.

The Common Council will still have to approve the TIF, which would be the city’s 22nd.

Email: spryor@conleynet.com