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Costco planned for Franklin
Costco is planning its first Milwaukee County store at 27th and Drexel in Franklin.
FRANKLIN, Wis. - The City of Franklin is preparing to take the first official step toward bringing Milwaukee County its first Costco store.
Costco plans its first Milwaukee County store
What we know:
The wholesale giant is eyeing more than 20 acres of land at South 27th Street and West Drexel Avenue — a site Northwestern Mutual used as its Franklin campus.
The land is now underutilized, but not for long if city leaders have their way.
A top priority
Big picture view:
"We are so lucky, so lucky that we hopefully will have an opportunity to have a Costco in Franklin," said Mayor John Nelson.
According to the agenda for Thursday night’s Franklin Plan Commission meeting, Costco is requesting to purchase the land and build a 162,000-square-foot warehouse that would also sell tires and include gas pumps.
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"I think we’re going to see a lot of people coming from other communities here, and that’s gonna help everything coming down the line," Nelson added.
Nelson said it’s one of his top priorities as mayor — not only to strengthen the city’s tax base, but to unleash other development that could follow.
"They have an aggressive timeline how they build stores. We will not hold this up," Nelson said. "This is gonna go through the proper channels, but like I said, all the electeds are on board with this, because the constituents want this."
Shoppers show support
Local perspective:
For shoppers like Carrie Pankowski, the project is a welcome change.
"I think that would be awesome," she said. "It would save me a trip going out [to New Berlin.]"
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Next steps in the approval process
What's next:
Costco currently has several stores surrounding Milwaukee County, but none within its borders. The Franklin proposal would be the company’s first in the county.
On Thursday, the Plan Commission will consider two application components: splitting the site into two parcels and rezoning the land. If approved, both items will move forward to the full Common Council.
Costco hopes to break ground and open the new store by late 2026.
The Source: The information in this post was collected and produced by FOX6 News.