El Rey Plans New Cesar Chavez Dr. Building

The owners of the El Rey grocery stores are planning to develop a new mixed-use building on S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr.

El Rey Properties intends to purchase a vacant, city-owned lot at 911-915 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. and develop a two-story building with first-floor commercial space and two apartments above.

The site is part one of the South Side’s main commercial corridors and directly across the street from an El Rey store, Nuevo Mercado El Rey. That store, 916 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr., opened in a new building in 2007.

The new development is expected to cost $805,000. That includes purchasing the 7,906-square-foot lot for $29,000. The new building would total approximately 8,000 square feet, including two apartment balconies.

“It’s exactly what the drive needs and I look forward to that being developed,” said area Alderman Jose G. Perez when the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee reviewed the land sale on Feb. 1.

The three-story building previously on the site was demolished in 2015. It included a tavern and apartments. The city acquired the property from owner Rose Espino in 2018 through property tax foreclosure.

“For many years, that was a problem, nuisance establishment,” said Perez. “Unfortunately there was a fire there. It remained vacant for a very long time.”

A Wisconsin Historical Society report says the now-demolished structure was built in 1895 in the Romanesque Revival style.

BMR Design Group is leading the design of the new building. Parking will be included at the rear of the site along an alley.

The city, according to a Department of City Development analysis, first marketed the property for sale in summer 2021.

The committee unanimously endorsed the land sale. The full Common Council is scheduled to consider the sale on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

Led by the Villareal family, El Rey operates four markets in the city. The family also operates a tortilla factory and has developed a number of properties in Milwaukee. The El Rey business empire was launched with a single store on what was then S. 16th St. in 1978.

The original store, 1023 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr., is now home to a Family Dollar store. It’s one of at least seven properties on the street owned by the Villareal family.