Sussex — In the mid to late 1800s, when pioneers were settling Wisconsin, it was not unusual for a small town or village to have a leading entrepreneur whose business enterprises often provided jobs, shaped the local economy, and helped provide community leadership.
In the 21st century, Brookfield software entrepreneur Art Sawall appears to be fulfilling that role in Sussex.
In an interview last week, Sawall said he is in the process of purchasing buildings and properties owned by three not-for-profit organizations.
He plans to covert the buildings and land owned by the non-profits into a series of apartment and retail complexes.
In addition, he said he anticipates completing the Mammoth Springs residential and commercial complex at the corner of Main Street and Waukesha next year, nearly two years ahead of schedule.
Sawall’s acquisition of land and buildings owned by Sussex Outreach Services and the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post could help implement a plan by village officials to provide office space for four community not-for-profit organizations in a newly constructed village hall/civic center.
Each of the organizations would be expected to pay for the construction cost of the space they would be provided.
The plan is expected to generate about $2.6 million which would help the village pay for the $12 million, 45,000-square-foot, three-story building to be built on the existing local government campus on Main Street.
Sawall said he hopes the sales transactions will be completed by next year and he said negotiations to purchase a historical railroad depot owned by the Sussex-Lisbon Area Historical Society is “a work in progress.”
Leaders of the three organizations have said the sale of the properties was necessary in order for them to raise the revenue needed to pay for the space in the new civic center/village hall.
However, the historical society has not yet reached a decision on whether to move into the new village hall, according to village officials.
The Sussex Area Chamber of Commerce’s offices are located in the existing village hall and chamber officials have said they would like to move into the new village hall if they can find an estimated $60,000 needed to pay for their office space.
Sawall has been investing in Sussex because he considers it an outstanding community for residential and commercial development because of its diverse economic base, small village atmosphere, and forward-thinking village administration.
His relationship with village hall began about five years ago when he decided to redevelop the site of the Mammoth Springs Cannery Company, a project several other developers had attempted without success.
He discovered the site while shopping for investment opportunities after he sold the computer software company he founded, ECT International Inc., to another software firm, Bentley Systems Inc., of Exton, Pennsylvania.
Sawall managed to maneuver through political, financial and bureaucratic barriers that had blocked other developers, including working with state and government authorities to reroute the Waukesha County Bug Line Recreation Trail that meandered through the center of the property.
He planned to construct five approximately 30-unit apartment buildings and two retail buildings on the 10 acres by 2018. However, the demand for the apartments was greater than he anticipated and, after a slow start, changes for prospective tenants for the retail buildings are improving, according to Sawall.
In a recent interview with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Business Writer Tom Daykin, Sawall also outlined plans for condo and apartment units near Silver Spring and Hickory Drive and apartment units near Main Street and Silver Spring Drive. Those two projects are scheduled for 2016 and 2017.
He also has apartment projects scheduled for Main Street and Waukesha Avenue and north of Silver Spring Drive and south of the Mammoth Springs Quarry pond.
- Written By Kelly Smith for Sussex Sun
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