GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ) – A Fox Valley community is getting $500,000 from the state to make way for a new commercial center off of I-41.
Grand Chute demolished the former National Envelope Corporation building on the northeast corner of I-41 and W. Wisconsin Avenue last year.
The state grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) will be used to help offset the costs of removing existing structures on the 28-acre site.
Going in its place will be a furniture store, WG&R, along with other shops, restaurants and possibly a hotel or medical facility.
“We are taking a huge step forward toward removing this blighted 55-year-old building on a highly visible location off I-41 and replacing it with a modern retail center,” Governor Scott Walker announced Tuesday.
“The project will enhance the regional hospitality, and entertainment district in Grand Chute and serve as a catalyst for future top-tier commercial development,” said town chairman, Dave Schowalter.
“When you look at the state with 2.8% unemployment, this county alone, Outagamie County, has 2.4%,” Walker said. “Now more than ever, we need to keep our high school graduates and college graduates here and we need to find more ways to attract more millennials, and big projects like this are all part of the bigger plans we have to do just that.”
WG&R CEO, Jim Green, says the grant will help clear some preexisting challenges that other developers couldn’t overcome.
Challenges included, “outdated 300,000 square feet building with hazardous material, creek splitting site, requiring bridge, and inadequate site access that needed to be overcome,” according to Green.
Despite the challenges, Green said he’s optimistic for what’s in store.
“With over 100,000 cars a day passing this site in various directions, this is one of the few remaining premier, retail location opportunity in Wisconsin,” said Green.
The redevelopment project will cost $4 million. WG&R is expected to be complete in 2019.
The National Envelope Corporation closed in 2014 . Since then, the building has changed hands but remained vacant.
Other projects Northeast Wisconsin that received grants are:
$425,000 for the redevelopment of the former Larsen Cannery along the Fox River in Green Bay. The site will be home to an office, retail and residential development.
$500,000 to redevelop a vacant 90-acre New Page Paper Mill site along the Fox River in Kimberly. The project will include a $12 million mixed-use neighborhood including 60,000 square feet of commercial space and 800 residential units.
