Franklin's two biggest retail projects reached their turning points about four weeks apart this spring. On April 8, the Common Council created a tax district for the Poth's General redevelopment of Orchard View Shopping Center. In the first full week of May, Costco broke ground at 2710 W. Drexel Ave.
By November, the Costco may be open. The Orchard View site at S. 76th Street and Rawson Avenue is still waiting for demolition to start. Both projects had public support and a vote, so neither explains the gap. The land does. One project is building on empty ground, and the other has to rebuild a place people still shop.
Spring approvals, fall results
Here is how the two timelines have run since April, based on the city's own updates and local reporting:
- April 8, 2026. The Common Council approves Tax Incremental District #10 for Poth's General by a 3–2 vote.
- May 4, 2026. The City of Franklin announces that Costco will break ground that week on its first store in Milwaukee County.
- May 5, 2026. Attorney Joseph R. Cincotta, representing property owner Linda Mathwig, sends a legal objection about TID #10 to the Common Council and the Joint Review Board.
- May 6, 2026. The Joint Review Board confirms TID #10.
- July 29, 2026. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that a lawsuit challenges the city and its Joint Review Board over the $15 million TIF district.
- September 2026. The city newsletter says Costco is on track for a November opening. It also says Orchard View demolition will begin that month only if the legal challenges are resolved.
As of early October, we found no public report that demolition at Orchard View has begun. We also found no new start date. Costco has not announced an opening day either. Every official source still gives only the month, November 2026.
Why 27th and Drexel moved quickly
Costco bought a 20-acre parcel that Northwestern Mutual used to own at the northwest corner of W. Drexel Avenue and S. 27th Street. The plan calls for a 164,000-square-foot warehouse, a 12-pump gas station at the south end of the site, and 868 parking spaces. The ground was open, and there were no tenants to relocate.
Mayor John Nelson called it "a long and exciting planning process." He credited the Common Council, Economic Development Director John Regetz, and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. In his September message, he said construction "continues to move forward at an impressive pace." He also hopes Costco will bring "other large tenants" to the rest of the Northwestern Mutual site. For east-side residents, that means the land around the store may keep changing after opening day.
We found no public schedule for road or signal work at 27th and Drexel tied to the opening. WISN's May coverage confirmed the 12-pump gas station and the November target but listed no store or fuel hours.
What Orchard View has to work through
Orchard View is the opposite kind of site. It is an older strip center at the southeast corner of S. 76th Street and Rawson Avenue, with businesses still open in it. The plan is to replace much of the center while keeping several established tenants. Developer Land by Label estimates the project at $83 million.
The plan was scaled back after community feedback and more planning. The 2023 proposal called for up to 440 apartments, a hotel, a food truck plaza, and a public band shell. The approved version has:
- 292 apartments in nine buildings of two and three stories
- About 4,100 square feet of standalone restaurant space
- Nearly 28,000 square feet of retail
- A pool, dog park, and grilling stations for residents
- New traffic signals
The hotel and several entertainment features are gone, and the buildings are shorter.
The developer asked for tax incremental financing to help pay for the project, and that is where the delays started. A public financing decision can be challenged in ways a private land sale cannot. The May objection argued that the district failed Wisconsin's "but-for" test, meaning the project might go ahead without the subsidy. It also disputed the site's blight designation and said the approval could be reviewed in court by certiorari. The July lawsuit reported by the Journal Sentinel calls the district "a gift of public tax funds." Public reports do not say which court has the case or where it stands now.
The city still supports the project. In September, Mayor Nelson wrote that Poth's General "has generated enthusiasm throughout our community." He added that "there are still a few remaining steps before construction can begin."
The tenants in the middle
An empty site has no one to keep in place during construction. Orchard View does. The approved plan keeps Dollar Tree and Ace Hardware, and Dollar Tree may get a larger store. Keeping Harry's Ace Hardware was a major topic in the TID debate, and in April a co-owner described the store's situation in a comment on a Franklin Today Facebook post.
"Our lease ends at the end of this year. We have a five-year option after that. And then they wanna double our rent." Ben Gil, co-owner of Harry's Ace Hardware, as reported by Franklin Today on April 14, 2026
Gil told Franklin Today that the five-year option would run at current lease terms. That gives the store some breathing room past this year. No later report has said how the lease was resolved. For now, the city plan says the hardware store stays, and the open question is the cost of staying. Those questions are part of what makes a rebuild like Orchard View slower than a project on open land.
Meanwhile, the 76th Street corridor keeps adding businesses
While Orchard View waits, S. 76th Street has kept adding businesses. Chi Tea opened its first Wisconsin location at 7251 S. 76th St. on Friday, June 26. The menu includes halal fried chicken sandwiches, smash burgers, wings, loaded fries, and bubble tea.
The south end of the city has a large project in the works too. Yaskawa America plans to invest about $182 million in a new campus on W. Ryan Road. It will house the company's North American headquarters along with manufacturing, engineering, research, and robotics operations. The Common Council approved the development agreement for that site, TID 11, on April 21. That puts three large projects across Franklin, each on its own timeline.
Franklin's calendar between now and the Costco opening
While the two shopping projects play out, the city's fall calendar continues as usual:
- Ballpark Commons, 7005 S. Ballpark Drive. The Hill Has Eyes runs select Friday and Saturday nights through October 31, plus a family-friendly Sunday event in October. Check the Ballpark Commons site for exact nights before you go.
- Saturday, October 24, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Franklin Fall Craft Fair at the CERC, 8355 W. Forest Hill Ave., with more than 50 vendors and a bake sale.
- Saturday, October 31, 4 to 7 p.m. Citywide trick-or-treat.
- November 2026. The planned Costco opening at 27th and Drexel, with the exact day still to be announced.
- Monday, November 16. The second fall brush and leaf pickup. Have items at the curb by 7 a.m. Leaves must be in paper yard waste bags or containers of 32 gallons or less, and plastic bags will not be picked up.
- December 1, 2026. The weather-dependent target to finish construction on the 116th Street shared-use trail, with final restoration planned for early spring 2027.
At 76th and Rawson, the next public milestone is a court decision, not a construction date. The city has said demolition will start only once the legal challenges are resolved.
Projects like these can change the value of homes nearby, whether a store is opening down the road or a shopping center is waiting to be rebuilt. If you own a home near 27th and Drexel or 76th and Rawson and want to know what that means for a sale, Lisa Wolf Team | wolfpartners GROUP can walk you through it, from pricing to getting the home ready for market. Work With Us.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
