Lisa Jossart, vice president of economic development for the Greater Green Bay Chamber, says new developments and expansion projects are on the rise in the Green Bay area.
“In the calendar year 2023, we counted 29 new project starts. So far in 2024, we have 24 projects on our list, so we’re already tracking year-over-year quite a bit ahead of where we were last year,” she says. “It’s strong even in spite of some of the economic challenges that everybody’s facing.”
Manufacturing and industrial expansions account for many of the projects on the list, Jossart says. Green Bay Drop Forge is planning a new 100,000-square-foot production facility in Grandview Industrial Park on the city’s east side. It would be the second project in the new industrial park, following last year’s completion of Carnivore Meat Co.’s 235,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing facility.
Matt Buchanan, deputy development director for the city of Green Bay, says the city recently acquired an additional 35 acres of land at Grandview Industrial Park in hopes of supporting further development.
“Industrial is still very hot, and there’s not enough spaces that are shovel-ready for manufacturing,” he says. “To help address that need, we’ve acquired the additional land and we’re in the process now of getting it shovel-ready and marketed.”
Housing developments
According to the city’s 2020 housing market study, Green Bay needs between 3,314 and 7,441 rental units and between 4,052 and 9,098 owner-occupied units by 2024 to keep pace with demand. Several housing developments are underway in order to help meet this goal.
Construction is set to begin later this year on an eight-story, 268-unit market-rate apartment building at 221 Cherry St. New Land Enterprises, a Milwaukee-based developer, is leading the project.
“It will be New Land’s first project outside the city of Milwaukee, so they’re a new developer to our region,” Buchanan says. “It’s going to be a $38 million estimated new property value on this after construction. If it’s not the highest valued property in downtown, it’ll be close to it.”
Amenities will include a pet spa, outdoor movie theater, ground floor commercial space and rooftop pool.
“It’s definitely going to be a game changer for the downtown,” Buchanan says. “It’s going to be a product that we don’t currently have in the city, as far as offering a very highly-amenitized rental product.”
The city has been getting creative to meet its ambitious housing goal, says Buchanan, who points to the former Badger Sheet Metal site as an example.
The five-acre parcel on S. Broadway will soon be the location of a mixed-use development including 150 to 200 housing units and a municipal fire station on the ground level. The city is working with real estate firm General Capital to create a site plan for the development.
Buchanan says marrying a municipal fire station and housing is unique for Green Bay, but it’s worked well in other municipalities.
“A lot of our fire stations are already located in residential neighborhoods,” he says. “You can do it in a way where you’re mitigating noise and have that municipal use, but you’re also able to provide private use for housing, which is sorely needed.”
Housing could also be a component of a new parking structure behind Green Bay’s Public Market, which is expected to be completed next spring. The city of Green Bay and On Broadway, Inc., owner and operator of the Green Bay Public Market, are partnering in a request for developer proposals. The vision is to redevelop the site into a public parking ramp that will support the public market and the entire Broadway District, as well as offer housing on the upper levels.
Jossart says the Green Bay Public Market will bring new opportunities for the city’s small business entrepreneur ecosystem and provide vital resources and infrastructure for the city’s growing downtown population.
“There’s a lot of positive momentum. We’re going to keep steadily building on what’s been evolving here,” she says. “I’ve lived here my whole life, and it’s pretty inspiring to see how we just keep getting better as a community — we keep our small town feel, but we’re creating amenities and resources that compete with what big cities have. It’s a cool time to be here.”
Other Green Bay projects of note include:
Veterans First of NEW is building 21 tiny homes in Green Bay’s Schmitt Park neighborhood. It will be Green Bay’s first tiny home development, with preference given to homeless and low-income veterans. The village will include 17 400-square-foot affordable homes and four 600-square-foot two-resident Rapid Rehousing homes.
The Fort at The Rail Yard, 419 Donald Driver Way, is expected to open this fall and create an estimated $21 million of new property value. The 233-unit apartment complex will offer 187 affordable units and 46 market-rate units.
City East Apartments, 1165 E. Walnut St., is planned to open this fall. The three-story, $13 million affordable housing project consists of 37 affordable units and six market-rate units. Brown County United Way offices will be located on the ground floor, along with community spaces offering United Way programming and services.
Phase I construction of The Shipyard Project, located on the western edge of the Fox River north of the Mason Street Bridge, is scheduled to be complete by the end of summer. This includes a riverfront promenade, fishing pier, boat docks, kayak launch, and fish and wildlife habitat. “We received the $5 million [National Park Service] grant for Phase II, so we would hope to start construction on Phase II immediately after the NFL draft,” Buchanan says. Phase II will include a great lawn for concerts, festivals and other events, a dog park, an urban beach, playground and splash pad.
