[1.30.26] Details unveiled for Cobalt's Pabst Farms development plans (BizTimes)

The next major piece of Pabst Farms to be developed could include nearly 750 housing units, more than 550,000 square feet of retail and office space and 300,000 square feet of industrial space.

That’s according to concept plans submitted to the City of Oconomowoc by Milwaukee-based development firm Cobalt Partners.

Cobalt is planning a 210-acre mixed-use project on a site along Pabst Farms Boulevard, west of the interchange with Sawyer Road in Oconomowoc and the Village of Summit.

Cobalt CEO Scott Yauck said the firm hopes to begin construction this year on a portion of the retail component of the project, which would be south of Pabst Farms Boulevard. Yauck said the firm has engaged with “several” users for the space, which would be concentrated west of the site planned for Costco.

Concept plans show a variety of retail spaces ranging from 5,000 square feet to 150,000 square feet, plus some small buildings on commercial outlots. Yauck said some of this space could be occupied by office users.

The plans also show space for a hotel in this area of the development.

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North of Pabst Farms Boulevard, Cobalt is planning a total of 748 housing units. 70 of those units would be single-family, owner-occupied homes, with another 18 duplexes and 24 multifamily condominium units. Additionally, concept plans show 416 apartment units in two-story apartment buildings and 220 apartment units in four-story apartment buildings with retail space on the first floor. The four-story apartment buildings would be arranged around a 6.5-acre green space.

The housing component of the project could start construction late this year, Yauck said, but is more likely to kick off in 2027.

On a portion of the project site situated south of I-94, Cobalt is planning a small business park with three 100,000-square-foot buildings, though Yauck noted that portion of the project is still “very conceptual.”

Cobalt is up for a slew of approvals for the project from Oconomowoc’s Plan Commission on Wednesday.

“We’ve gotten pretty deep into market studies and have several interested users for the retail spaces. Oconomowoc is a place a lot of people are interested in,” Yauck said. “We’ve got a good mix of housing styles and densities, too.”

Pabst Farms has been in active development for more than two decades. Once used as breeding grounds for cattle and horses, the 1,500-acre site began its transformation in 2002. Nearly 1,000 acres have since been developed with housing, retail centers, industrial buildings and other commercial projects. However, several aspects of the original master plan have yet to materialize until recently.

In 2018, a Fleet Farm store opened in the area. Just east of that, an Illinois-based developer is currently building a mixed-use complex called Pabst 59 that includes more than 330,000 square feet of industrial space, 162 apartments and retail components.

Cobalt has a reputation of doing large-scale mixed-use developments. If fully realized, this project would be the company’s largest by acreage. The firm is the developer behind the 48-acre 84South development in Greenfield, the 38-acre Loomis Crossing development in Greenfield, the 28-acre OneNorth development in Bayside, the 65-acre Whitestone Station development in Menomonee Falls and a 14-acre project in downtown Kenosha.