Wangard Partners plans 200,000-square-foot food and beverage facility in Jefferson

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Developer Wangard Partners announced plans to buy public land in Jefferson with the intent to build a 200,000-square-foot food and beverage facility.

The 17-acre plot of county-owned land at 1515 Wisconsin Avenue is slated for a single-user, build-to-suit development with more than 200,000 square feet of space adjacent to the existing Jefferson Food & Beverage Innovation Campus, according to a Wangard press release.

The acquisition hasn’t been finalized yet, but Wangard Partners CEO Matt Moroney argued Wisconsin remains an attractive state for food and beverage manufacturers “because the operating fundamentals are difficult to replicate.”

“The state offers agricultural depth, manufacturing expertise, skilled labor, and efficient Midwest distribution access,” he said in the release. “Jefferson stands out because those advantages are already concentrated in a growing food production corridor.”

Seven of the country’s 10 largest food and beverage manufacturers have operations in Wisconsin, and the industry supports more than 146,000 jobs in the state, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

Jefferson’s Food & Beverage Innovation Campus is a 165-acre industrial business park near several major interstates and major airports, and is immediately next to the Union Pacific Railroad.

With the campus’ four lots already spoken for, any business looking to take advantage of the well-suited area for food and beverage production would need to search outside the campus.

Currently, Kikkoman, Onego Bio and V&V Supremo are either constructing facilities or planning construction at the campus. 

“We view this site as a strategic extension of the Jefferson Food & Beverage Innovation Campus,” said Stephanie Rechner, industrial development and leasing at Wangard Partners. “For the right build-to-suit user, this is an opportunity to enter an established food production corridor with momentum already in place, rather than starting from scratch.”

Milwaukee-based commercial real estate agency Cushman & Wakefield is marketing the property.