APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Construction begins Wednesday on Thrivent Financials’ new 600-acre mixed-use park in Appleton.
Crews will start work on Thrivent’s new operations center in its Wilden Portfolio Park development, located just off I-41 at 4321 N. Ballard Road.
The new Evergreen operations center will allow Thrivent to downsize its current office while retaining all 1,400 employees.
The project is divided into two phases. The first phase is estimated to bring $211 million of new value.
It will include:
- 75 single-family homes, estimated between $425,000 and $595,000
- 83 senior multi-family units
- 105 multi-family low-income units
- 289 additional multi-family units
- 76,500-square-foot grocery store
- 120 hotel rooms
- 3 commercial buildings
- 100,000-square-foot office building
- Additional 120,156-square-foot building
Crews will first work on infrastructure improvements like a new city road, sidewalks and sewage, with construction on buildings likely beginning in late 2027 or early 2028.
The city says it will cover about $25 million ($11 million in direct borrowing and $14 million paid over time) of the infrastructure costs using tax revenue from the new development. It estimates Phase 1 of the development would provide about $57 million in additional tax revenue over the next 20 years. The agreement also features a transfer of up to 3.5 acres to Appleton for a future city fire station, in exchange for $1.
