An agreement has been reached to move the C. Reiss coal pile away from a downtown Green Bay site.
“I’m really pleased that this historic opportunity was seized by reaching an agreement under a complex set of circumstances,” said Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach. “This will have the utmost positive economic impact on Brown County and Northeast Wisconsin by expanding the Port of Green Bay and enabling the City of Green Bay to redevelop its downtown by transforming prime riverfront property.”
C. Reiss will lease 16 acres of the former Pulliam Power Plant Site owned by Brown County with annual payments of $350,000 adjusted every five years based on the Consumer Price Index. The company will move commodities it currently stores at The Fox River Terminal to the Pulliam site and move the coal from the downtown site to the terminal.
The current 35-acre coal storage site on Mason Street along the Fox River will be repurposed into a mixed-use, downtown-style development on the northernmost 10 acres with continued modern and clean industrial or port use to the south.
City officials estimate redevelopment of the 35-acre site where the coal piles now sit will result in $150 million in economic activity. The Green Bay City Council will be asked to allocate $2 million for site redevelopment.
“This is a defining moment for Green Bay, Brown County and Northeast Wisconsin,” Green bay Mayor Eric Genrich said. “For generations, our community has envisioned an accessible and dynamic riverfront throughout our downtown core.”
The arrangement also is expected to benefit the Port of Green Bay. Brown County has $33 million in state and federal funds to expand the port, but the state has made $15 million contingent on moving the coal piles from the Mason Street site.
A formal agreement is required to be in place by Sept. 15 or the parties have agreed to enter into binding arbitration. It is expected to take up to two years for C. Reiss to fully draw down the coal pile and relocate it to the Fox River Terminal.
