UNEXPLORED POTENTIAL

Brown County offers opportunities for developers

By Rebecca R. Konya

Vetter Denk Architects Inc., which is at least partially responsible for transforming Milwaukee's riverfront into a vibrant urban neighborhood, is seeking to do the same for residential development along the Fox River in downtown Green Bay. The architectural firm has plans for Riverfront Lofts, a $10 million luxury condominium complex on the city's riverfront.

Image courtesy of Vetter Denk Architects Inc.

John Vetter considers Green Bay to be a strong, untapped market.

That's why the president of Milwaukee-based Vetter Denk Architects Inc. is banking on the success of the firm's new Riverfront Lofts project — the first luxury condominiums in Titletown.

The $10 million residential real-estate venture is considered one of the main catalysts spurring the revitalization of downtown Green Bay. Located at the end of Cherry Street, the Riverfront Lofts will overlook the Fox River and are within walking distance of local restaurants and shops, a public plaza and a recreational trail.

While the condos will appeal to traditional demographic groups of urban professionals and empty-nesters, Vetter believes the development also will draw a wider cross-section of the population, including professional athletes in the area.

The development will feature 13 two-level lofts with two bedrooms, two and a half baths and an outdoor terrace, as well as 13 tri-level penthouses that will occupy the upper portion of the building. Each penthouse features two bedrooms and a study, two and a half baths, a penthouse loft and two outdoor terraces.

"One of the most salient features is the architecture itself," said Vetter. "The condos are organized in a way to capture views and sunlight."

The project's anticipated completion date is fall 2005.

Hoping to cement its position in the Green Bay market, Baylake Bank of Sturgeon Bay is building a new financial center in downtown Green Bay. The company purchased a former Boston Store in January and is renovating the 140,000-square-foot building.

Demographics

Population, percent change, April 1, 2000-July 1, 2003: 3.2
2003 population estimate: 233,888
Population, percent change, 1990 to 2000: 16.5
Percent of people under 5 years old in 2000: 6.9
Percent of people under 18 years old in 2000: 26.1
Percent of people 65 years old and over in 2000: 10.7
Females, 2000: 50.3 percent
Whites, 2000: 91.1 percent
Blacks, 2000: 1.2 percent
American Indians and Alaska Natives, 2000: 2.3 percent
Asians, 2000: 2.2 percent
People of Hispanic or Latino origin, 2000: 3.8 percent
High school graduates, percent of people age 25+, 2000: 86.3
Bachelor's degree or higher, percent of people age 25+, 2000: 22.5
Housing units, 2002: 93,916
Homeownership rate, 2000: 65.4 percent
Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2000: $116,100
Households, 2000: 87,295
People per household, 2000: 2.51
Median household income, 1999: $46,447
Per capita income, 1999: $21,784
People below poverty, percent, 1999: 6.9

Business Facts

Private nonfarm establishments with paid employees, 2001: 6,348
Private nonfarm employment, 2001: 131,468
Manufacturers shipments, 1997 ($1,000): 6,457,440
Retail sales, 1997 ($1,000): 2,569,147
Retail sales per capita, 1997: $12,000
Minority-owned firms, percent of total, 1997: 3.0
Women-owned firms, percent of total, 1997: 22.9
Housing units authorized by building permits, 2002: 2,137
Federal funds and grants, 2002 ($1,000): 875,297

Geography Facts

Land area, 2000 (square miles): 529
People per square mile, 2000: 429

"We just completed the demolition phase," said Bob Zubella, Baylake's executive vice president.

The Baylake Bank City Center will replace the bank's smaller downtown location on South Adams Street. Zubella said the project is critical to the bank's ongoing expansion efforts.

And Boston Store isn't the only Green Bay department store that will not survive redevelopment plans. Jim LaPlant, an architect with Thomas J. Juza Custom Home & Design Inc., Hobart, recently announced that the Younkers building in Green Bay will be razed after the firm acquires it in November.

The local design/build firm, which is purchasing the site for $1.35 million, plans to build a boutique condominium hotel.

"It will have a Ritz-Carlton atmosphere," said LaPlant. The exclusive development will include various suite designs, public plazas and river walks.

But Green Bay isn't the only city in Brown County working through plans for condominiums. In nearby De Pere, C.S. Smet Construc-tion Corp., De Pere, is planning to construct a 31-unit condo development on Main and South Sixth streets and Reed Road. With a goal to bring the convenience of modern urban living to downtown De Pere, Tom VanDeHei, senior project manager for Smet, said the building will be ready by mid-October.

Touted as Chicago-style lofts, the condos feature open-concept floor plans of 1,100 and 3,000 square feet. The complex also will include a swimming pool, fitness center and rooftop decks.

Residential developments lead to a need for improved infrastructure, a fact that hasn't escaped De Pere officials. The City Council is closing in on a design for a new four-lane bridge that will replace the aging Claude Allouez Bridge, originally built in 1932.

Bill Patzke, the city's planning director, said the new bridge will cross the Fox River just one block south of the existing bridge.

The city and the state Department of Transportation have been working with David Kahler of Milwaukee-based Kahler Slater Architects Inc. on the project. Initial bridge concepts were in excess of $130 million, nearly 10 times the proposed WisDOT budget. The latest concept, which features concrete pylons on either end of the bridge and lanterns sending up 100-foot beams of light, will run between $11 million and $12.5 million.

Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2005, but WisDOT project manager Chuck Karow said the start date could be pushed back to spring 2006 pending design approval and the intricacy of that design.