Construction will restart later this year on the Green Bay Public Market, if an additional $5.5 million can be raised by May 1.
On Broadway purchased the Old Fort Building in 2022 and estimated it would cost $21 million for construction of a public gathering space that features vendors and retailers with a variety of offerings and experience.
On Broadway officials told the Green Bay Redevelopment Authority, that rising construction costs have caused several delays in construction for the project which is now estimated to cost $27.2 million.
“Construction costs, interest rates, material shortages were absolutely haywire in the post-COVID era,” said Garritt Bader, a board member for On Broadway, Inc. “The simple answer is, big projects take time.”
The project was first scheduled to open in 2023, then pushed back to April 2025. Officials now say they need time to raise additional funds.
They plan to seek $2,25 million in state grants, $2 million in federal tax credits and an additional $1.25 million in donations.
“When the numbers came up, when they escalated, our hope was really to be able to find a source to plug that before we had to go public and make an appeal for additional funding from different sources,” Brian Johnson, president of On Broadway Inc., said.
It is now estimated that construction on the Green Bay Public Market will be completed in 2027.
