West Allis council approves conditional use for Armory Hockey training center at West Greenfield Avenue

The West Allis Common Council on a 7-0 roll call vote approved a conditional use permit for the Armory Hockey Development Center at 11111 West Greenfield Avenue, permitting an instructional training use for 31 or more people.

The permit passed after council members removed the item from the consent agenda for separate consideration and then voted in favor. Acting Mayor Heaven Haas opened the meeting and the council completed the roll call before discussion. Plan Commission had recommended approval of the proposal, and no members of the public spoke on the item during the council meeting.

Mr. Scherer, a city staff member, described the proposal as a tenant improvement inside the Festival Foods property on the south end of the shopping center and said, “Armory hockey is going to be a, hockey training center of sorts, first of its kind within the Milwaukee area.” He said the space was developed as part of the Festival Foods store and has never previously been occupied as a separate tenant space.

Council members and the applicant discussed operations. The council heard that seasonal hours during the hockey season (September through May) are planned from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., with morning and early-afternoon appointment slots by arrangement; Saturdays would be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Summer (off-season) hours for June through August were described as Monday–Friday evenings and weekend daytime hours. The applicant (listed in the meeting as the applicant speaker) told the council, “Yes. So there will be, portions of time where it's open gym, open facility, where members can come in and even non members can pay to use, for that 1 use.” The council was told the facility would include a lobby and pro shop, a full-scale gym and strength training area, a synthetic skate surface and a rapid training shot area that records shot speed and other metrics.

The council was given site details: about 124 parking stalls are located directly in front of the proposed tenant space, including two ADA stalls; refuse would be located behind the building; and the site is already under an approved landscaping and architectural plan from the previous Festival Foods and restaurant development. The applicant said the business expects to employ two to three full-time employees, including the owner-operator, and five to 10 part-time employees for coaching and training duties. The applicant asked the council to consider the item at this meeting to accommodate a bank financing timeline; council members agreed to act rather than postpone to allow the owner to pursue financing.

The council approved the item as number 43 on the agenda. The roll-call vote recorded seven ayes, zero noes; two council members were listed as excused earlier in the meeting. The council moved on with no public comment recorded on the conditional use permit.

Plan Commission recommendation, the applicant’s timetable, the site’s existing landscaping plan and the parking count were all included in the council record. The applicant indicated an anticipated opening in June, subject to tenant improvements and financing.