GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A Public Market is coming to Green Bay.
On Wednesday, On Broadway, Inc. announced a $30 million project to turn Old Fort Square into a Public Market.
“It’s a concept that we recognize works really well in communities all across the world. We probably visited over two dozen different public markets, many in in Europe, and many domestically across the country,” said On Broadway, Inc. Executive Director Brian Johnson. “We’ve consistently seen how they act as catalysts for redevelopment in different areas where they’re located, and we had a great property that was a candidate for this type of redevelopment.”
While officials visited many different markets, Johnson says they’re taking extra notes from Milwaukee’s Public Market.
“We’ve been unabashed in admitting that Milwaukee has a really good model, and we’d like to replicate the pieces of it that work very effectively for that community,” Johnson told WTAQ News. “Milwaukee has a model that works in the Midwest, it works in Wisconsin, and we know it’ll work here. They attract over 2 million visitors a year. We expect that, for our community size, we think we can attract 1 million visitors per year.”
Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2022 with the completion to be sometime in 2023.
“This is a project that has literally been 5 years in the making,” Johnson said.
Set in what many call a food desert, the Public Market will include many food and grocery options. It will also feature a community kitchen and event space.
“A lot of what we’re doing by way of programming and accessibility is designed to specifically open up to that residential neighborhood and make sure that we’re culturally inclusive of what’s happening over there with the residents, and then of course creating access to fresh affordable food,” Johnson said. “There is a grocery store there, and we recognize that. So our goal is not to take away from what they’re doing, but to supplement where the gaps exist. We have a good plan to get us there, and we’re working towards it every day…It’s very food-focused, so you’ll see a mixture of fresh foods things like meat and produce and and fish and seafood, but then you’ll also see a lot of prepared foods as well.”
Officials also promise parking and a public plaza.
On Broadway says it expects Green Bay’s Public Market to attract more than 1 million visitors per year.
“People spend twice as much in the public markets as they do a traditional mall. When you draw that level of volume of people visiting your district, they also spend money at the neighboring stores. There’s a lot of data to support that as well,” Johnson said. “It’s all inherently revolving around, again, the social component that we’re really trying to emphasize. We have spaces built into this market to accommodate a variety of programming from community partners because you want to create reasons for people to visit the market.”
There are already four tenants for the market, representing established and successful businesses from the area.
“[I think that] demonstrates the need for what we’re doing,” Johnson said. “If you have those reputable folks step up to the table, they’re going to attract additional reputable tenants that really want to be part of a bunch of excitement that’s happening.”
Part of the project also includes residential. The Broadway Market apartments will be located to the west of the Public Market with retail options on the ground floor.
Johnson says this is just the first of several announcements from On Broadway Inc. that are slated for 2022.
“2022 is going to be a banner year for the Broadway District,” Johnson said.
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