Exciting changes are on the way in Manitowoc to begin some long over-due clean up downtown. The former Mirro aluminum manufacturing site is being eyed for workforce housing. PC: Fox 11 Online
MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Exciting changes are on the way in Manitowoc to begin some long overdue clean up downtown.
The former Mirro aluminum manufacturing site is being eyed for workforce housing.
It’s a site that’s sat empty for years. Now, things are starting to get rolling, with hopes of brightening up the area.
Excitement to finally have something new is growing.
“This has been a thorn in my side since I took office in 2009 16 years ago,” Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels said.
This nearly 1 million square-foot piece of land that takes up an entire city block is preparing for a facelift. Manitowoc’s Common Council approved the winning bid for a contractor to begin cleanup of the site last week.
“It’s been a blighted, ugly area in the city for just far too long and unfortunately, a lot of cities have this. Older cities have these older manufacturing plants that you just can’t restore or do anything else with,” Nickels said.
Clean up is being paid for with a nearly $2 million federal grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by former President Joe Biden. It pays for contaminant removal, concrete demolition, excavation, creation of green space and getting granular fill ready for nearly 60 apartment units.
“If not for that Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here because the city wouldn’t have been able to cover that $2 million,” Nickels said.
Nickels said the apartment complex will be considered workforce housing and take up around 60% of the lot. He said the developer is applying for federal tax credits to help offset construction costs.
The Mirro Aluminum Company occupied the block off Washington Street for almost 90 years. It was torn down in 2017 and has sat empty ever since.
“It’s gonna help us, the couple of little shops that are up on the road here and maybe kind of spark some development on people fixing up their businesses down here in this area,” Novak’s Service Center owner Jeremiah Novak said.
Novak has been waiting patiently for something to happen with the empty area. He thinks apartments there will help his bottom line.
“I’m hoping that everybody there has a car and dead batteries, flat tires, [get] some business out of it. And I’m sure that there is a ton of great shops in town, so everybody will be able to get some of that business,” Novak said.
Clean up on the site is expected to begin in March or April, and construction could start as early as this summer. Nickels hopes to have apartments opened by late 2026.
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