A rendering of the fire station/apartment complex project at the corner of S. Broadway and Arndt Street in Green Bay. (Photo courtesy: City of Green Bay)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The city of Green Bay’s vision for a fire station/apartment complex combo on the corner of South Broadway and Arndt Street in the Shipyard District has its first renderings.
It comes about one year after selecting General Capital Group, from Milwaukee, out of 11 developers interested in taking on the project.
“We tried to keep it simple and tried to just separate the buildings so that basically, we could independently work on the plans,” said Sig Strautmanis, a partner for General Capital.
The three-story fire station will combine operations from the now-shuttered 100-year-old Fire Station 1 on Washington Street and 88-year-old Fire Station 3 on Shawano Avenue.
“Both of those buildings, we struggle with space. We struggle with operations that fit inside those buildings, and then just modern health and safety requirements that exist in modern buildings,” said Green Bay Metro Fire Chief Matthew Knott.
The 93 apartment units will be one to three bedrooms. Eight units will be for people making 30% of the area median income, which is $62,546, according to the most recent census data. 73 units will be 60% of the AMI and 12 units will be 80% of the AMI.
“There’s going to be a community space there that’s going to be intended for both our use and the fire station’s use, where we can provide classes and other outreach, maybe a place to vote,” said Strautmanis. “Things like that will happen in that piece that’s between the apartments and the fire station.”
The apartments part of the development is expected to cost $25.2 million. The city is hoping to keep the fire station price to about $15 million.
The Brown County Board of Supervisors recently approved providing $3.5 million of its ARPA funds for the project. That money needs to be spent before September 30, providing major incentive for developers to keep this plan moving.
“This really kind of showcases an area that is just booming,” said Knott. “The opportunities really exist there, and this will really be that showcase — what we really see as that highlight of Broadway as we move forward and see the future growth of that entire Shipyard District.”
The hope is to break ground before the end of the year.
The developers say there will likely be six or seven funding sources for the project. They are currently applying for state tax credits and other public funding, which is common for affordable housing projects.
The city’s Redevelopment Authority agreed Tuesday to sell the property, which used to be home to Badger Sheet Metal, to the developer for $1 to meet eligibility requirements for the tax credits. The sale is contingent on approval of a development agreement, which is expected to come as soon as next month.
The plans also include a second phase. A second multi-family building would be located on South Maple Avenue. Details of that building are to be determined.
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