Green Bay terminates project plan for Monroe Avenue parking lot, will seek new developer

GREEN BAY — A Madison-based developer's five-year effort to convert a Monroe Avenue parking lot into nearly 200 apartments and first-floor retail space has come to an end.

Green Bay's Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday terminated its development agreement with developer Ted Matkom for the city-owned parking lot in the 200 block of Monroe Avenue.

Matkom earlier this year was at work on a third version of mixed-use plan for the site after rising interest, labor and material costs created a sizeable funding gap in the second plan, a $22 million, 172-apartment mixed-use project first approved in 2021.

The first plan, proposed by NeighborWorks Green Bay and Gorman & Co., which Matkom works for, called for construction of 70 apartments atop a 24,000-square-foot grocery store and 10 townhouse units. That plan was scrapped after Gorman was not awarded the low-income housing tax credits necessary to finance the project.

The city of Green Bay in 2019 paid $1.2 million for the parking lot, formerly owned and used by Associated Bank, with an eye to redeveloping it into high-density housing.

Cheryl Renier-Wigg, the city's director of community and economic development, said the city plans to begin the redevelopment process anew by quickly issuing a new request for proposals from property developers.

She said the new request may ask developers to incorporate townhouse units, or other styles of housing, into any proposed site plan.

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 orjbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.