What Should Be Built on This Corner?

Editor's note: This story was updated at 4:50 p.m. to include a brief comment from Ernie Von Schledorn 

As it stands, the northeast corner of Pilgrim Road and Main Street is nothing but a crumbled and weedy concrete slab.

Directly across the street, development is humming along, and a Walmart Neighborhood Market recently opened. There are also potential tenants lining up for a newly constructed “landmark building” on the opposite corner and the former Schlotzsky’s location.

Just north on Pilgrim Road, construction crews are rebuilding the roadway, and a Froedtert Health rehabilitation center and Wisconsin Athletic Club are quickly being erected.

However, the expansive open lot on that prominent corner in Menomonee Falls remains silent. The well-known car dealer Ernie Von Schledorn owns the lot, which is comprised of two separate parcels. Combined, they are worth roughly $530,000 and Von Schledorn has been promptly paying $10,000 in taxes on the site.

Von Schledorn told Patch Thursday that he does indeed have the property on the market. He's had several inquiries about purchasing his land. He added that he currently has an "active inquiry" on the table, but he didn't say who he was in negotiations with. 

In 2005, that site was listed near the top of the village’s 2005 blight analysis study. According to that document, the site is a “poorly maintained vacant lot” and acts as a hindrance to future development along the corridor.

Patch attempted to contact Von Schledorn on Thursday, but had not received a return call by the time the article was published.

But here’s the question — what would you like to see constructed on that corner owned by Von Schledorn?