GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Brown County is buying a key piece of downtown property, not only for its own use, but to make sure a proposed project doesn’t happen.
Brown County has a deal in place to buy the old Bank Mutual property in downtown Green Bay, at 201 N Monroe Ave, for $1.2 million. It’s across Pine Street from the Brown County Central Library.
The old Bank Mutual building has sat empty for more than five years, but the county acted fast to scoop it up once it heard a gas station could be built there.
“Do we really want a convenience store selling liquor, a convenience store with gas pumps, a few yards away from the entrance of this building?” said Brown County Supervisor Dan Theno during Wednesday night’s county board meeting.
The proposal wasn’t just a gas station. It also included an Indian restaurant with a drive thru, a UPS type of packaging and business center, and three public electric vehicle charging stations.
“I felt his plan was exceptional,” said Murray Wikol, the CEO of ProVisions, the Michigan-based real estate company that owns the old bank property.
Wikol supported the gas station plan when the developer, Green Bay Area Business Development LLC, tried to get a conditional use permit from Green Bay’s city council two weeks ago. The request was sent back to committee with concerns of alcohol being sold near a church and daycare.
“It was kind of at a point where that project was being reexamined, but didn’t look like there was a path forward because of the location near a church and a daycare,” said Wikol.
Still, some county supervisors expressed during the county board meeting that the gas station plan could still get approval. They said preventing the project was a plus, but the county also needs additional library parking and could control what development will go on the old bank site.
“We’ve poured $5 million into this facility, likely going to have to pour another $10 to $15 million in this facility and what sense does it make to do that unless we have the parking available in order to maximize the use of this facility,” said John Van Dyke, a Brown County Supervisor.
Other supervisors felt the price tag was too much without a plan for the land besides parking.
“This is a bad business look,” said Ron Antonneau, a Brown County Supervisor. “This is not the way to run business or run anything.”
The county board voted 18 to 3 to buy the property.
“We had probably half a dozen written offers, so it did have exceptional interest, and we took the offer of the county, which was not the highest price, but we felt this was the right thing to do for the library, the community,” said Wikol.
The county is buying the land with money that was earmarked for central library renovations in this year’s budget.
