GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – As the area around Lambeau Field has developed at a rapid pace over the past several years, the northeast corner of Lombardi Avenue and Ridge Road hasn’t seen any action.
“It’s been sitting vacant far too long and we want to get working on it,” said Tim Kuehn, the owner of the property, who also owns the nearby Margarita’s of Green Bay restaurant.
Kuehn purchased the property 10 years ago. He eventually bought and raised five of six homes on the same block.
He’s now proposing a three-story mixed-use building that will have a footprint of 31,000 square feet and span that stretch of Lombardi. It will be called “Lombardi Time Square.”
Kuehn estimates it will cost $40 million to construct and will include retail, commercial and office uses. Underground parking is also planned.
Behind that building, on the corner of Ridge and Thorndale, the plan calls for a four-story building with first-floor retail and 24 apartment units.
Kuehn estimates it will cost between $10 million and $12 million to build.
It will be called “The Ridge at Time Square”, according to a mailer sent to nearby residents.
“I want to take advantage of the views in front, which I call the beach front view,” said Kuehn.
Kuehn says the plan is contingent on swapping the only home he didn’t purchase on the block with a duplex he owns across the street.
While Kuehn wouldn’t detail what the new owner has planned for the duplex, the mailing to neighbors shows a 50-foot high residential building with underground parking called “The Lofts at Lambeau”.
“I was shocked and appalled,” said Treyton Warnke of Green Bay, who currently rents one side of the duplex that would be replaced with the residential development.
Warnke says he hadn’t been told of the plans.
“Yeah, it’s a weird spot for it and I don’t think it matches the area, really.”
“That thing is going to be almost as tall as the stadium,” said Ras James of Green Bay.
James and Julie Shank have lived in the home behind the duplex for more than 20 years.
“I like to see progress, but I don’t like to see progress that might hurt the neighborhood or hurt anybody that is close by,” said James.
The developers are holding a neighborhood meeting about the plans next Thursday at 6 p.m. at Highland Crest Baptist Church on South Military Avenue.
Kuehn says changes can be made before plans are submitted to the city to make sure neighbors are on board.
“We’re at the initial phase and we’ll go from there,” said Kuehn.
Kuehn doesn’t have tenants lined up for the new buildings, but says he has a vision for nicer shops. As for the apartments, he says rents will likely be comparable to others in the area.
In 2016, a four-story office building was approved for the property, but Kuehn did not move forward with the plans.
In the letter to neighbors, the developer says zoning approval will be required for this project.
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