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Nancy
Justman, president/CEO of Visit Brookfield, smiles
Wednesday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the
long-awaited Brookfield Conference Center near
Brookfield Square Mall. The development, which will
include a 168room Hilton Garden Inn, is slated to open
in 2020.
Cara Spoto/Freeman
Staff |
BROOKFIELD — What started as a
sprinkle turned into a full downpour on Wednesday morning as leaders
from across Waukesha County packed into a small tent just south of
Brookfield Square Mall.
The weather, however, did nothing to dampen the spirits of officials
and developers who had gathered to mark the groundbreaking of the
long-awaited Brookfield Conference Center.
Slated to open in 2020, the 54,000-square-foot venue will include a
168-room Hilton Garden Inn, 24,000 square feet of ballroom space, a
10,000-square-foot atrium, and a 9,000-squarefoot outdoor plaza and
garden.
“Today we will collaborate, we will connect, and most importantly,
we will celebrate. I just couldn’t be more pleased to be here. It’s
such an exciting time in Brookfield with all the development and
construction happening, and I am very proud to be a part of it,”
said Nancy Justman, president/CEO of Visit Brookfield, kicking off
the event.
Once the project is done, Brookfield will have the second largest
cluster of hotels in southeastern Wisconsin. Justman commended the
area’s existing hoteliers for embracing the project, which she said
came out of a increased need for larger-scale meeting space.
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Michael
Lebovitz, president of CBL, the company that owns
Brookfield Square Mall, speaks during a groundbreaking
ceremony for the Brookfield Conference Center on
Wednesday morning.
Cara Spoto/Freeman
Staff |
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Local leaders and
developers, including Waukesha County Board Chairman
Paul Decker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and Brookfield
Mayor Steve Ponto (center) take part in a groundbreaking
ceremony Wednesday morning for the Brookfield Conference
Center.
Cara Spoto/Freeman
Staff |
Brookfield Mayor
Steve Ponto also took time to praise the city’s existing
hotel owners, who supported raising the room tax to help
finance the conference center building. He also noted
the tax incremental financing district for the project,
which was created to finance the land acquisition.
In a statement echoed by others, Ponto expressed how
excited he was to have the conference center project
coming at the very same time Brookfield Square Mall is
going through its own renewal. As the groundbreaking was
taking place on Wednesday morning, construction
machinery could be heard working on the redevelopment of
the south end of the mall, where Sears once sat.
Once completed, the new section of entertainment and
retail hub will include a Marcus Cinemas Bistro-Plex, a
hybrid restaurant and entertainment center dubbed
WhirlyBall, and several restaurants.
“The mall has been an economic driver and catalyst for
Brookfield since it opened more than 50 years ago,”
Ponto said. “It is our deep hope and expectation that
the conference center and the mall will prove to be
synergistic, with each benefiting the other, and
together benefiting the whole region.”
Mall owner CBL President Michael Lebovitz, who came up
from Nashville, Tennessee for the groundbreaking
ceremony, said he has similar hopes.
“The ability to marry up the redevelopment of an anchor
store with a new hotel and conference center is a
perfect mix in today’s changing retail landscape,”
Lebovitz said. “This is what it’s all about.” |
