Contact: Tony Hozeny, Department of Commerce, 608/267-9661
MADISON– Governor Jim Doyle today announced that the River Vision Partnership, LLC will receive a $565,000 Blight Elimination and Brownfield Redevelopment (BEBR) grant from the Department of Commerce (Commerce).The funds will be used to help redevelop an unoccupied and underutilized property in the City of Green Bay, Brown County.
“Brownfield grants help renew damaged or vacant land and provide communities with opportunities for additional reinvestment,” Governor Doyle said. “I’m pleased that we could help the River Vision Partnership, LLC revitalize the old Younkers property on the banks of the Fox River.
River Vision Partnership, LLC plans on redeveloping the 1.14-acre site formerly known as the Younkers property located at 101 North Washington Street into a mixed use development that will feature extensive frontage on the Fox River and access to the $12 million City Deck currently being constructed along the edge of the river. The redevelopment will consist of new retail space, a restaurant, office space, apartments and a new Children’s Museum of Green Bay. The BEBR funds will be used to reimburse remediation expenditures and demolition expenditures that will be incurred at the redevelopment project. The new facility will require an investment of nearly $13 million, and over $355,000 will be spent on remediating the site.
Commerce’s BEBR Program provides grant funds to municipalities, local development corporations, and the private sector to support assessment, remediation and return of contaminated lands to productive use. Brownfields are abandoned, idle, or underused industrial or commercial properties where redevelopment is hindered by real or perceived contamination.
For more information about the BEBR Program, contact Al Rabin, Commerce, at 608/267-8926.
