By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
ASHWAUBENON – Plans to convert a portion of the former Gordman’s at 2351 Holmgren Way into an indoor concert auditorium were approved Tuesday, Aug. 25, by the village board.
Community Development Director Aaron Schuette said Performa Inc., at the request of property owner Ash Investors LLC, requested a site plan review of a Planned Unit Development (PUD) amendment for the properties at 2325 and 2351 Holmgren Way.
He said Ash Investors wants to repurpose the northern half of the former Gordman’s building into The Epic, an indoor concert auditorium, while the southern half would be reused for a future tenant.
Schuette said the amendment was requested because the PUD only allowed retail uses.
“I thought it made sense to open up the PUD a little bit from its current use to just retail uses to – in addition to the concert venue – to other uses that are currently allowed within the B-3 zoning district,” he said.
Schuette said those uses include an indoor amphitheater, indoor auditorium, banquet facility, indoor commercial recreation, financial institution, professional services, including medical and dental, restaurant without a drive-through and indoor retail sales.
In addition to the increase in allowable uses, Schuette said the PUD amendment includes a projecting blade sign not to exceed 17 feet in height, nor project more than 6 feet from the building.
He said the amendment also allows flexibility in the parking requirement to permit shared parking agreements with properties within 1,000 feet of the venue to attain the minimum parking standard of 667 spaces, with the venue having a capacity of 2,000.
Schuette said there will 436 on-site parking spaces.
“In terms of parking from a staff standpoint, we also see quite a bit of changeover for these types of uses,” he said. “Instead of people driving to and from places where they may have a drink or two, quite honestly, there is more of a demand for ridesharing, such as Uber and Lyft.”
Though the property is outside the village’s Sports and Entertainment zoning district, Schuette said it makes sense expanding uses at the site beyond retail, which currently faces challenges due to internet sales and the pandemic.
“There’s nothing (in the village code) that says music venues can only be in Holmgren Way, north of Cormier,” he said. “There’s nothing like that on the books. This is a permitted use within the B-3 zoning.”
Trustee Gary Paul said he favors allowing other uses in the B-3 district besides retail, because he doesn’t want to see empty big-box stores in the village.
“I think if we can make use of these buildings through other avenues rather than retail, I think it’s for the better,” he said.