A rendering of the urban barn planned for the JBS Development site on Green Bay's east side. (Photo courtesy: City of Green Bay)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — An urban barn has long been part of plans for a new neighborhood that’s being built on Green Bay’s east side.
The city is now considering paying for the barn with ARPA funds originally set aside to increase affordable housing options.
Between Walmart and the Kroc Center, work continues on the 26 acres of land JBS donated during the COVID-19 pandemic that will include a variety of housing, a destination playground and the urban barn.
“It’s really designed to be a real food transformation hub for our community, and really linking community health, economic development, workforce development and food all in a central location,” said Natalie Bomstad, executive director of Wello, a nonprofit focused on community health.
Wello is partnering with the city on the urban barn. The facility would include food processing equipment and storage, aimed at opening new revenue streams for small to midsize farmers, while extending the growing season and access to local food.
“Think about that sweet potato, but what some of our customers are really asking for is, ‘Can we get that sweet potato sliced? Can we get it diced? Can we create what we would call value added products?’” said Bomstad.
Wello has landed $585,000 in grants for the barn’s equipment, making adjacent, difficult-to-build-on land farmable, and to pay for manpower through 2028. The cost of the barn is $1 million.
The city’s finance committee approved pitching in $750,000 of ARPA money. However, it asked city staff to look into other potential sources, as the money is earmarked for either affordable housing land acquisition or parks development.
“We want to find a way to do both,” said Brian Johnson, Green Bay’s city council president. “I think there’s potentially a path to do that, and staff is currently looking at the policies to figure out what’s possible.”
Time is also a consideration for the ARPA funding, as it needs to be spent by the end of next year.
Affordable housing is a major theme of the overall development. Ground was recently broken on 95 workforce apartments, with hopes that even more housing being announced in the future will be geared to lower incomes.
“We’re already seeing housing developers step up and wanting to build in that area, so we want to make sure the right amenities exist to continue to attract more development,” said Johnson.
The city council is expected to vote on the urban barn funding next week. Wello would fundraise for the remaining $250,000 needed for the barn.
The plan is to have the urban barn built by the end of next year. The adjacent land to farm would be ready about a year later.
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