New projects reshape Green Bay’s urban landscape

Green Bay and the Fox Cities have seen significant growth and development over the past years but are still pressing on when it comes to addressing housing needs in northeast Wisconsin.

Last week, Green Bay officials broke ground on what will be its largest housing development in the city’s east side. The project calls for 200 single-family and multi-family homes and new infrastructure such as new streets, said Amaad Rivera-Wagner, the chief of staff for Green Bay Mayor Erich Genrich’s office.

The unnamed project is the latest example of the city taking on housing gaps. In 2020, Green Bay found it needed between 3,314 to 7,441 rental units and 4,052 to 9,098 owner-occupied units, respectively, to keep up with demand for the next 20 years, according to a study. To fill in the gaps, the city will have to build between 140 to 310 rental units and 170 to 375 single-family units each year.

City officials said the development is meant to tackle the “missing middle” of housing by building triplexes, duplexes, town homes and small apartments. Gorman & Company, based in Oregon, Wis., is building two apartment buildings and Revel49, a developer based in Milwaukee, is working on multigenerational townhomes.

The project is for residents who make up 80-120% of the area median income, Rivera-Wagner said. In Green Bay, the median income is around $55,000. The target number accounts for more than half of the city’s population, he added.

“Working people in this community often spend most of their money on housing and we want to make sure if you’re working, that you still have the ability to rent or own in our community,” Rivera-Wagner added.

At its full potential, the project is expected to spread across 26 acres of previously undeveloped farmland previously owned by local employer JBS Foods Group. The first phase of construction involves the city building infrastructure and streets as an incentive for its private partners. The city and Gorman are still in talks over a development agreement.

The first residents should be able to move in the summer of 2025 and another phase with single family homes will start in 2026. The overall project is expected to take five years.

The city is investing $14 million in the first phase with the help of state and federal grants, Rivera-Wagner said. The project is expected to shoot past $30 million in future property values.

That’s just the beginning when it comes to projects in and around the Green Bay area. Matthew Buchanan, the deputy development director for the city of Green Bay, said the city has transformed its riverfront, downtown and Broadway areas since he started seven and a half years ago years ago, and more construction is still happening.

ARPA and public funding are taking a larger role in project funding

There are a heavy set of challenges to new development in the Green Bay despite high demand for housing and industrial space, such as rising construction costs and high interest rates. To take the burden off developers, the city of Green Bay has provided more help in the past to make projects happen, said Matthew Buchanan, the city deputy development director.

Funding from the American Rescue Plan Act has been used to launch some projects, such as the ongoing Green Bay Public Market and apartments at the Rail Yard Innovation District projects, Buchanan said.

“We’ve been deploying (ARPA) dollars to affordable housing projects and created new programs to support developers through innovative stormwater projects, which helps offset some of their costs,” Buchanan said. “We’ve been able to step up and support developers in new ways, otherwise if we didn’t, nothing would be happening,” he added.

It all started on the Fox River

Green Bay experienced growth of its riverfront area between Main Street and Walnut Street, starting with its CityDeck, a public riverwalk with different amenities. Before that, the city demolished part of the former Port Plaza Mall in the early 2010s. Schreiber Foods moved its office headquarters there shortly afterward, bringing more than $30 million in downtown reinvestment on the east side of the Fox River.

On the west side of the river, Broadway experienced revitalization as well over the past decade with the On Broadway Business Improvement District. The district created a downtown farmers market, which Buchanan said was a catalyst for transformation. “That’s our primary corridor for cool new restaurants and trendy bars,” he added.

Inside the Broadway area is the Railyard Innovation District, an old cannery and warehouses that were turned into Class A office space with the help of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and local developers, Buchanan said. One of the foremost district businesses is the Titletown Brewery, 320 N. Broadway, with a rooftop taproom.

Additionally, crews are working on a 225-unit apartment building going up across from the Broadway Lofts near the intersection of Broadway and Bond Street.

The “game changer” project for downtown is a proposal for a 268-unit, mixed-use development by Milwaukee developer New Land Enterprises. The developer wants to build on top of a city-owned parking lot on Cherry Street between North Washington and North Adams Streets. The latest plans have called for regular apartments, penthouses and two-story townhomes.

Buchanan said he hadn’t seen a project with the scope and level of investment that New Land proposed. The development deal is expected to be around $38 million.

New Land and the city signed a development agreement in May, and no other approvals are required through the city’s Common Council, Buchanan noted. The city will make some minor amendments to the approved agreement in October, but the developer will still break ground in the fourth quarter of this year.

Construction is expected to start in late 2024 and New Land’s proposal will take more than a year and a half to build.

Highlighted projects in the Green Bay wave

Another highlighted project is the City East Apartments, which was expected to wrap up construction in August of 2024, Buchanan said. The city put out a request for proposals for a lot on 1165 E. Walnut Street and worked with Appleton-based MF Housing Partners to deliver 37 affordable housing units and six market rate apartments.

The Green Bay Public Market is underway, a collaboration between Boldt and On Broadway to reconstruct 45,000 square feet of former office space for multiple restaurant tenants, city development officials said. The city is interested in creating a new tax increment financing district and development agreement for the area. The project is expected to wrap up before the NFL Draft in April.

Milwaukee-based GRAEF is providing structural engineering, civil engineering and urban design to the public market.

The city will partner with On Broadway to develop a request for proposals to build a new parking ramp and potential housing over the surface parking lots behind the building, Buchanan noted.

On the south side of Broadway by Mason Street, the city kicked off the multi-phase Shipyard project. The first phase is a park with a riverfront promenade, marina and kayak launch on the Fox River. The city sent out an RFP for engineering firms interested in assisting with the second phase.

For the third phase, the city envisions a container park with spaces for startup food and beverage businesses, Buchanan said. The concept involves using shipping containers to house business and serve as a tourist attraction. The city expects the overall project to wrap up by 2028.

On the north side of the city, Green Bay is working with Merge Urban Development to build 225 market rate housing units. The project broke ground in 2022 and consists of a north and south building; the north building will be completed in 2024, and the south will start soon after, according to a development department update.

“We regularly put out requests for proposals for developers and have an available properties webpage,” Buchanan said. “The city is ambitious on acquiring property for new development, and we’re eager to work with new developers,” he added.

Development sprouting up between Milwaukee and Green Bay

The Fox Cities, which includes the cities of Appleton, Kaukauna, Menasha and Neenah, have seen a population increase over ten years and will need more housing to keep up, according to the local business community.

Residents grew around 7% over the past 10 years and those cities will need around 1,500 new housing units to keep up with demand, said Eric Broten, the vice president of business growth and development for the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce.

Because of the population growth and a shortage of single-family homes, multifamily and mixed-use developments have become more popular, Broten added.

One of the biggest developments in the Fox Cities is the Fox Commons, a 180,000-square-foot mixed use project taking place in Appleton. The redevelopment of the former City Center Plaza will be home to two healthcare entities, ground floor commercial space and housing for Lawrence University students. Most downtowns in the Fox Cities Region have either seen recent redevelopment or budgeting for redevelopment in the next few years, Broten noted.