Welcome to East Tosa

East Tosa is a progressive urban community offering niche shopping and dining experiences interconnecting with vibrant, established neighborhoods. Located on the east side of Wauwatosa, East Tosa offers a classic Main Street feel with tree-lined residential neighborhoods adjoined to a vibrant sixteen block trade district offering a wide array of goods and services.  East Tosa is home to a respected school system, many fine restaurants, and thriving businesses. Its convenience to the Milwaukee metropolitan area offers easy access to major league sports, a nationally recognized zoo, and abundant cultural and social activities. Though much of the charm of East Tosa stems from its historic beginnings, it is bolstered by its spirited residents who are committed to knowing and supporting each other in an environmentally, fiscally, and economically sustainable lifestyle. In the summer of 2011, East Tosa's Plan was approved by the Common Council.
In the Spotlight
  • Business Directory – New Feature

    Business Directory - New Feature

    We have added the Business Directory as a new feature. If you represent a local business, please add your business today! To our other guest and visitors, please support our local business and find just what you need by browsing the directory. The Business Directory is a great way to get acquainted with all that is available in East Tosa. We are certain you find many unexpected gems.

    Read More

1 2

Auto Parts Chain Leases Former Blockbuster Building

Updated: February 5, 2012
Share

Reposted from Wauwatosa Patch February 4 article, Auto Parts Chain Leases Former Blockbuster Building.

O’Reilly Auto Parts has signed a 15-year lease for the former Blockbuster building at 6102 W. North Ave., city officials and neighborhood representatives learned Friday.

A group including several Common Council members, the city administrator, the economic development director and members of the East Tosa Alliance met with the property’s owner and representatives Friday morning to discuss the future of the site, according to two aldermen who were present.

But after a conversation about fitting any potential use into the city’s comprehensive plan, they said, owner Dan Cohen of Mid-America Real Estate announced that the lease with O’Reilly had already been signed.

Ald. Linda Nikcevich said in an e-mail that Cohen told the group he had been working on alternate plans for the Blockbuster site since 2007 and that O’Reilly was the only business that had wanted it.

When Blockbuster vacated the premises in December without notice, Nikcevich said, Cohen and O’Reilly were already prepared to move ahead with a lease.

Nikcevich and Ald. Bobby Pantuso, who also attended the meeting, were concerned, though, that the fast turnaround of the property did not take into account the city’s vision for the area.

Between 2007 and the present, she said, the city had adopted the North Avenue Plan to implement a $5.4 million, 15-year vision for an enlivened business district. However, she said, Cohen told the group he was not even aware of the existence of the redevelopment plan.

“This is a conditional use that could be approved for the space with restrictions, but not a preferred use of the property,” Nikcevich wrote.

Pantuso concurred, saying in an interview that while any solid, long-term tenant was better than a long-term vacancy, an auto parts business was not what East Tosa had hoped for on the Blockbuster site.

Neighborhood organizers who did the groundwork in developing the North Avenue Plan have long looked at the Blockbuster location as a potential anchor for the east end of the district in Wauwatosa.

It had always been hoped, he said, that attracting a destination dining establishment or up-scale mixed-use development there could be the impetus for a revival of sorts along the avenue.

“I think we could have done better than an auto parts store,” Pantuso said.

Cohen could not be reached for comment.

O’Reilly’s… Oh, Really?

Updated: February 5, 2012
Share

Reposted from Wauwatosa Patch. 

By Bobby Pantuso, alderman

Recently, you may have noticed that the Blockbuster building on 61st Street and North Avenue became vacant. Many people wondered what might be coming next.

As it turns out, it is an auto parts store.

Everyone living in East Tosa has their own vision of what they would like North Avenue to look like, to be like, to feel like. My own vision for North Avenue starts with… well, North Avenue.

Not the one of today but the one from 30 years ago, when I was a kid growing up in East Tosa and hanging out on and frequenting the shops on North Avenue.

The second infusion to my vision of North Avenue is Brady Street on the East Side of Milwaukee; a walkable stretch of urban street filled with eclectic shops. Merge those together and you get a taste of MY vision.

Putting everyone’s vision together and producing a common vision was no small task. Through the efforts of many, over a period of a few years, a great document was formed.

That document sits in my home office, and I commonly refer to it as “The Game Plan.” I refer to it frequently. I’ve printed copies and mailed them to people. I’ve linked to it in emails more times than you can imagine. I have shared it.

As I look through the game plan I see myself walking down North Avenue, stopping, shopping, talking, people watching. It is where I want to be and I want to share it. We share because we are proud. “Here try this cake I made… Try this coffee I bought… walk down this street I helped create.

North Avenue needs to be not just a street but a place and a destination. There needs to be a look, a feel, a sense, a place we share.

Many East Tosans wondered what “the plan” called for. It quickly became known that the next occupant of the Blockbuser site might be a national chain auto parts store…sigh. Really? That’s the best you could do?… sigh.

Then as we REALLY thought about it we envisioned the auto parts store we already have just two blocks away. The parking lot is covered in oil and usually trash. People are there at all hours with the hood up, filling fluids, changing sparkplugs, batteries. They try starting their cars, they rev the engine, they play their music loud while they do so. They loiter…..sigh.

It has become apparent that we are getting this auto parts store, the lease has been signed and there is no turning back. It is up to us now to stop the parking lot from becoming an outdoor auto shop, an eyesore.

What if this becomes a place we avoid? What if we start to avoid the places nearby? What if we are no longer proud and we don’t want to share?

This was never in my vision. It wasn’t in anybody’s.

Neighbors fear what follows Blockbuster

Updated: February 5, 2012
Share

Reposted from TosaNow Jan. 18 article by Stefanie Scott.

East Tosa residents assumed it was a matter of time before Blockbuster closed up shop in their neighborhood.

But the speed of the movie-rental store’s departure at 6102 W. North Ave. last month, and the reports that an auto-parts store might fill the space, have neighbors concerned.

Blockbuster has fallen on hard times, shuttering most of its stores in the Milwaukee area and across the country. Still, an employee assured Alderman Bobby Pantuso last spring that the local store would likely remain open for some time. Then in mid-December, business-closing signs went up and the building was quickly emptied.

“I was a little thrown off because it always seemed busy to me,” Pantuso said. “We always thought there was going to be more time.”

The site has been identified as a key redevelopment hotspot in the East Tosa master plan that was adopted by the city last summer. Pantuso said that while the plan sounded a bit “pie in the sky” – it calls for a neighborhood commons feel with two-story mixed residential/office and commercial use as well and even a splash pad for urban recreation/open space – it makes full use of the site.

“That’s such a beautiful spot and there’s not a lot of mixed use on North Avenue,” he said.

The 32,400-square-foot property, which takes up nearly an entire commercial block, is mostly asphalt parking lot surrounding a 6,800 square-foot building.

Blockbuster’s closing left members of the East Tosa Alliance, a group of residents, business and property owners, scrambling to find out if they could influence what was next for site.

“It’s an anchor in that area,” said Meg Miller, alliance board chairwoman. “We want to work with anyone that comes in. We want this to be collaborative.”

Initial talks with a broker from Mid-America Real Estate Group led Miller to believe a new tenant had been lined up for the building. After some digging, she learned the real-estate firm had secured a long-term lease from O’Reilly Auto Parts.

The broker couldn’t be immediately reached for comment but he did send Miller an e-mail Tuesday, saying he’s willing to talk.

Neighbors haven’t welcomed news of a national auto parts retailer.

“Bringing this type of business into this space does not add to the neighborhood feel the North Avenue East Tosa Plan is attempting to accomplish,” said Angela Quigley, a resident who joined the alliance. “My husband and I moved to East Tosa a few years ago from Downtown Milwaukee because of all the locally owned, unique businesses that were within walking distance of our house. There is a lot of momentum going on in this neighborhood of bringing in new, fresh businesses and I just don’t feel that O’Reilly Auto Parts will add to this momentum.”

Alliance members cite an auto parts dealer at 58th Street and North Avenue, albeit in Milwaukee, that serves the area. A market study included in the master plan cites a need for locally provided auto-related retail. However, that shouldn’t be misconstrued as a need for additional stores, but rather a desire to protect the existing businesses like Voline and O’Gorman’s that the alliance doesn’t want to see pushed out, Miller said.

National auto parts franchises tend to locate in strip malls on busy main streets, not next to a happening restaurant and gathering place like Juniper 61, she said. Imagine sitting on the patio enjoying a meal overlooking a person changing their oil in the neighboring parking lot, she said.

The residents don’t want to see an empty building and understand that a property owner needs to collect rent, Miller said. A look at the companies that Mid-America represents shows some more fitting options – such as a Chipotle, which would be consistent with a survey that showed neighbors want a Mexican restaurant in the district.

East Tosa resident Maureen Badding sent a letter to the broker pointing out a desire by residents for garden center, Mexican restaurant, Hallmark-type store, specialty food store or retail boutiques of any type.

“With a relatively new building and ample parking, your property is a goldmine,” she said.

Weed Out & Menomonee River Clean-Up Oct. 29

Updated: October 14, 2011
Share
Oct ’11
13
7:00 pm

Please join the Friends of Hart Park Foundation for their Fall 2011 Weed Out and Menomonee River Clean-Up. The Friends of Hart Park is a non-profit organization whose goal is to promote the preservation of Hart Park. Please visit our web site at www.ihartpark.com for further information about The Friends of Hart Park. The event will take place Saturday, October 29th, 2011 from 9am- noon. We are looking for volunteers to help with pulling weeds and cleaning up along the Menomonee River at Hart Park. We will be meeting outside the Park Office at Hart Park at 9am. We will be supplying bags. Please bring gloves, sheers and any supplies that you think will be beneficial for the clean-up. Please email Patrick.mcnally82@gmail.com if you plan on attending

Juniper 61 presents East Town Get Down

Updated: December 22, 2011
Share
Aug
18

Save the date - Juniper 61 is hosting East Town Get Down featuring food, drink and live music on August 18, 2012

  • Please visit our Chili'n on the Avenue Sponsors

    logo_beercapital_200x200

    Please visit our Chili'n on the Avenue Sponsors

    tosainsurance
    walters
    Hupy-logogroup-wi-b
    logo_juniper61_200x200
    logo_ogormans_200x115
    logo_tosayoga_200x200