February 20, 2020 – West Bend, WI – More development is being announced on Highway 33 in West Bend. Following the opening of the new Fleet Farm there’s been a string of property sales and upcoming contracts for construction.
A new Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins will be coming this spring to the former location of Pizza Hut. The old Chase Bank sold and will be the new headquarters for Alexssa Enterprises. Russ Darrow purchased the property to the east of the Nissan dealership; early word is he’s going to build a new Chrysler store there and it seems imminent a couple more Kwik Trips are on the way.
Bob Yahr sold his Mobil on E. Washington Street and that Kwik Trip construction should be underway shortly. Kwik Trip is also scheduled to come before the West Bend Plan Commission in March for the site on Highway 33 and 18th Avenue that was previously home to Fleet Farm.
Also in March watch for more details on a new Taco Bell at 2356 W. Washington Street. That property is currently home to Matrix Title, but the site has a long history in West Bend.
According to records at City Hall the property used to be owned by Bridgeman Foods. The building permit dates to November 20, 1985.
Bridgeman Foods used to be the company owned by former Milwaukee Bucks forward Junior Bridgeman. According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, he sold out his restaurant franchise, including Wendy’s, in 2016 and became a distributor for Coca Cola.
When that property on Highway 33 was a Wendy’s there may have been some Milwaukee Buck’s memorabilia on the wall of the restaurant.
The building sold in 1992 for $315,000 to St. Francis Bank. In 1997 the bank sold for $390,000.
At one point PNC Bank was located at that site.
In June 2014, John Rehman from Matrix Title Co. purchased the former PNC Bank building, 2356 West Washington Street.
Plans for the new Taco Bell are expected to go before the Plan Commission at its March 3 meeting.
According to officials at City Hall the current building will be razed and a new 1,763-square-foot restaurant will be constructed. The new restaurant will feature a drive thru, a concrete patio with decorative fence and tables, more than 20 parking spots.
Word that a second Taco Bell was opening in West Bend has been met with some speculation by neighbors in the community, since the fast food outlet currently located on S. Main has locked its doors during the noon hour and operated solely through the drive thru. Management has said it’s because of a staffing shortage.
On a sports history note: Here’s a quick flashback of what No. 2 Junior Bridgeman looked like back in his days as a baller for the Bucks. The shorty shorts and hunter green uniforms that had the lime green stripes on the side and matched the colors on the MECCA arena court.
Bridgeman played for the Bucks from 1975 – 1987. Teammates off the top of my head include Marques Johnson, Sidney Moncrief, Quinn Buckner, Brian Winters, Kent Benson, Bob Lanier, and coach Don Nelson. Who else can you name?
Why would you build another Taco Bell in West Bend? The first one, on Main St is a disaster, closes all the time, literally leaves people in the drive thru and closes down anywhere from an hour to the whole night. If they’re short staffed now and closing , how you gonna keep another location open?