From the pages of In Business magazine.
Smith Gilbane, the developer of the recently completed, 600,000-square-foot Wisconsin State Office Building and parking garage on Madison’s west side, is heading into the next phase of development with the announcement that a 50,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market will anchor the Madison Yards at Hill Farms development at the southwest corner of University Avenue and Segoe Road.
Whole Foods is the first retail tenant secured for the $300 million-plus Madison Yards, billed as a vibrant, 21-acre live/work/play district that will feature multiple Class-A office and medical spaces, and the following amenities: a walkable central green plaza, an upscale hotel, and 110,000 square feet of retail, restaurants, and entertainment spaces, in addition to the 50,000-square-foot new home for the health-foods grocer.
Infrastructure and roadwork on Madison Yards are expected to begin this summer, pending site implementation approvals. “As a longtime member of the Madison community, we look forward to continuing to serve our neighbors at this brand-new location and providing them with an updated, more exciting shopping experience,” says David Schwartz, regional president for Whole Foods Market’s Midwest Region.
“Adding Whole Foods Market as our first retail tenant is a big win for Madison Yards and speaks to the caliber of what we’ve envisioned all along for the development,” notes Russell Broderick, senior vice president of Gilbane Development Co. “We’re excited to continue building upon our plan for what promises to be a wonderful destination for the city of Madison and its residents.”
Mark Theder, president of Summit Smith Development, believes that Madison Yards will transform the existing site into a walkable, mixed-use destination that is woven into the fabric of the University Hill Farms neighborhood while building upon the “eclectic vibe” of the city. “We can think of no better way to kick off the project than by welcoming Whole Foods Market,” Theder states. “We are excited to continue our planning and look forward to creating a unique destination that complements the community and becomes a Madison landmark.”
The current 30,000-square-foot Whole Foods store at 3313 University Ave. opened in 1996. Plans emerged in 2008 to build a 55,000-square-foot store at Hilldale, but the project never came to fruition. That site went on to become a Target store.
The larger location at Madison Yards would help Whole Foods accommodate its delivery service through Amazon Prime, which went live in 2018 following the grocer’s $13.7 billion acquisition by Amazon a year earlier. The new site would alleviate flooding concerns, which closed the existing store in August 2018 and resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars’ worth of groceries when the region was deluged with heavy rain over a period of several days.
The proposed new Whole Foods location would be on a ridge overlooking University Avenue.
Representatives from Whole Foods have not said publicly yet what will come of its existing store once the new location is open.
Smith Gilbane is a joint venture comprised of developers Gilbane Development Co. and Summit Smith Development, a full-service, commercial real estate development division of C.D. Smith Construction based in Milwaukee.
Click here to sign up for the free IB ezine — your twice-weekly resource for local business news, analysis, voices, and the names you need to know. If you are not already a subscriber to In Business magazine, be sure to sign up for our monthly print edition here.
