Berkshire Greendale Celebrates its Opening

Berkshire Greendale, the new senior housing complex adjacent to , celebrated its opening today with residents, developers, village and officials.

Representatives from General Capital Group, Village President John Hermes, a representative from Milwaukee County and Greendale State Rep. Jeff Stone all praised the project. 

Stone and Hermes welcomed the new residents into the Village. 

"Our Village leaders have made smart decisions," Hermes said. "I’m very proud to have served with them as we have gone through the process with this building being the first of many great things to come throughout the (76th Street) corridor."

Construction on the $17 million project started in April 2011, . Berkshire Greendale is the first of three TIF districts approved by the Village of Greendale. The board approved the $1 million TIF district in Spring of 2010. Trustee Greg Turay said the tax base of the property is worth about $5 million. 

The building, which requires a tenant to be at least 55 years old, is 100% occupied. From the very begining there was high tenant interest, said Carmello Manddente of General Capital. A kiosk in Southridge Mall with information for prospective residents was very successful; Manddente said that within weeks of the start of marketing they had enough applicants to fill the 90-unit building. 

All but one of the units were leased without the tenant even seeing the finished product during the construction period.

"That was one of the most incredible things to us," Manddente. "All of these people had so much interest without seeing the building."

Many residents raised their hands when Hermes asked if they came from outside of Greendale.

The ribbon cutting ceremony was followed with food and drinks for all attendees.