GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – 172 apartment units, a grocery store, and UW Green Bay are all part of a $22 million development proposal for downtown Green Bay.
A grocery store and a college presence in downtown Green Bay have both been talked about for years. Both are still in negotiations for joining the project, but officials from each entity confirmed their interest at a virtual meeting of the city’s Redevelopment Authority Tuesday afternoon.
The project is proposed for the former Associated Bank parking lot that is bordered by Monroe Avenue and Quincy, Cherry, and Pine Streets. It is just southeast of the Brown County Central Library.
Eight townhomes and a restaurant with outdoor dining are also proposed for the site.
Main Oriental Market would move across Pine Street to occupy about 15,000 on the ground level of the five-story apartment building. The square footage is about one fifth the size of the nearest Festival Foods.
Maurer’s Market was the grocer in a previous proposal for the site.
“A grocer who actually kind of complained that the original grocer that we came in with was not local, which was true,” said Ted Matkom, of developer Gorman & Co., about Main Oriental Market.
“She said she could do a great job and had a great vision. She shared that vision and kind of blew us away with her presentation.”
City officials said the owner of Main Oriental Market could not be at the Redevelopment Authority meeting, but submitted a statement of interest.
“We are a family owned and operated specialty grocery store and have been in business for over 15 years,” reads part of the statement from Main Oriental Market.
“Our vision is to expand our current selection of foods to better serve all populations in the melting pot of downtown Green Bay. As we expand, we also hope to create jobs and hire from within the community as well. The final details and the partners of our future business plan are currently being reviewed.”
UW-Green Bay is negotiating for 7,000 to 10,000 square feet of space. Chancellor Michael Alexander says the school would end up using it for either a new center for civic engagement, a resource center, or flexible space for programming.
“It’s exactly the kind of space we’re looking for to move possibly. For years, the university has been requested to move downtown, have a presence downtown. This is the kind of space we definitely need to be successful in doing so.”
As for the housing, the 172 apartment units would be market rate. The developer says the cost of a studio would start at about $1,000 per month.
“It’s not something where people only making six figures that are going to afford to live here,” said Mike Kline, a member of the development team. “We like the fact that there is going to be a broad spectrum of renters here.”
The original project proposal was based on affordable housing. The developer says the census tract changed, disqualifying the project from receiving WHEDA tax credits.
“I’m ok with the makeup of the units on this development project knowing that we have more affordable coming down the pike,” said Cheryl Renier-Wigg, Assistant Economic Development Director for Green Bay.
Renier-Wigg says the city has a goal of adding 300 to 500 housing units each year until 2040 as part of a recently conducted housing study.
Under the development agreement, construction must start before the end of next year. If construction costs come down before then, the developer says work could start sooner with the project being done 17 to 20 months later.
The agreement calls for the city to recoup the $1.2 million it paid Associated Bank for the parking lot.
80% of the tax revenue generated by the project would be returned to the developer.
The city council will vote on the deal at its next meeting.
