Monona's Post-Topgolf Development Boom Adds 700 Apartments, Commercial Space; Described As Largest Project In City History

WAUKESHA — A mixed-use development rising beside the Topgolf facility in neighboring Monona will add approximately 700 apartments, 25,000 square feet of commercial space, and a 1.5-acre public park, making it, according to the city's own planning department, the largest single development in Monona's recorded history. The project is expected to house roughly 1,400 residents upon completion and has already drawn interest from regional retail tenants described by brokers as "still deciding" among Monona, Waukesha, and Brookfield.

The development, which has not yet been named beyond an internal planning designation of "Parcel 14," occupies a stretch of land that until last year held a gravel overflow lot for the driving range. Construction crews began vertical framing on the first of four residential buildings in late August, and site visits this month showed steel and wood framing visible from the Topgolf frontage road to golfers mid-swing, a sightline the developer says was "not part of the original rendering" but has not required any design changes.

The Numbers

City of Monona planning documents put the project's residential count at 684 units across four buildings, a figure rounded up to "nearly 700" in the developer's own marketing materials, which several Waukesha officials noted privately is a rounding practice their own city has never been in a position to use. The 25,000 square feet of retail space remains unleased, though the developer's site plan lists "flexible retail/restaurant" for all of it, a category broad enough, one commercial leasing agent said, "to include almost anything that isn't a landfill."

The 1.5-acre public park, sited at the development's northeast corner, will include a splash pad, a dog run, and what planning documents describe as "passive green space," a term that drew no questions at the Monona Plan Commission's August meeting but has reportedly generated some in Waukesha, where a comparably sized greenspace proposal near the Fox River has been in committee review since February.

The View From Here

Bob Krueger, the retired Waukesha Department of Public Works supervisor who reviews regional infrastructure and development projects in a personal capacity, drove to Monona on a Tuesday afternoon specifically to look at the framing from the Topgolf parking lot. He stayed for 35 minutes.

"Used to be the only thing we competed for was a Topgolf. Now they've got the Topgolf and they're building a small city next to it."

— Bob Krueger, retired DPW supervisor

"Used to be the only thing we competed for was a Topgolf," Krueger said, referring to a 2019-era bidding process in which Waukesha was reportedly a finalist for the entertainment venue before Monona secured it. "Now they've got the Topgolf and they're building a small city next to it. We got a frontage road improvement and a sign that still says 'Coming Soon' about a Raising Cane's."

Krueger estimated the project's retail square footage by pacing off the visible foundation in 40 Krueger-lengths, a unit he described as "six-foot-one, give or take the boots," and arrived at a figure he called "in the neighborhood" of the city's official 25,000. He declined to rate the project on his usual 10-point scale, citing a personal policy of not scoring developments outside Waukesha County unless invited.

Regional Competition, Quietly Acknowledged

One retired Waukesha city planning supervisor, who asked not to be named discussing a neighboring municipality's economic development strategy, said Monona's pursuit of large mixed-use projects has measurably reshaped the competitive landscape for housing and commercial development across the greater Milwaukee corridor over roughly the past two years. The supervisor noted that retail tenants who once treated a Waukesha storefront as a default now run comparisons against Monona and Brookfield as a matter of course, a shift the supervisor attributed partly to Monona's willingness to approve four-building projects "on a timeline that would still be in neighborhood meetings here."

Waukesha's own Common Council has not scheduled a response to the Monona project, though Councilman Gary Puchalski said the city remains "very active" in pursuing mixed-use development opportunities, citing an 11-unit townhome proposal near Sunset Drive currently in its third round of site plan revisions.

"We're not chasing anybody's apartment count," Puchalski said. "We're chasing the right apartment count, for the right site, at the right time, which takes the time it takes."

What Happens To The Range

Topgolf's Monona location will remain operational throughout construction, according to a facility spokesperson, who said golfers have adapted to the new skyline beyond the back nets "the same way you adapt to anything that's suddenly there." Several patrons interviewed in the bay nearest the construction fencing said the framing has, if anything, improved their aim, giving them a fixed object roughly where the 240-yard marker used to be.

The first residential building is expected to welcome tenants by late 2027. The developer has not said whether any units will offer a view of the driving range, though the site plan shows at least one building oriented to face it directly.