GREEN BAY - Wisconsin Public Service Corp. plans to demolish its now-vacant downtown Green Bay headquarters campus after the utility was unable to finalize a tentative sale announced in 2022 .
A WPS spokesperson on Monday said the company expects demolition of the two buildings in the 700 block of North Adams Street will begin in summer and wrap up sometime in 2025. The company previously demolished a U-shaped trio of buildings along Elm Street in 2022.
The electric and gas utility used the campus as its headquarters from 1970 to 2015, when it merged with We Energies to become WEC Energy Group. The complex at one time had 297,000 square feet of office space, but has sat empty since July 2020 when WPS made a pandemic-spurred office closure permanent.
Demolition will remove one impediment to redeveloping the 16.3-acre site at the confluence of the Fox and East rivers, though the site's historic use in energy production have left pollutants in the soil that will need remediation.
Matt Cullen, WPS spokesperson, cited three reasons the company decided to demolish the buildings:
- It was unable after two years to finalize terms of an agreement to sell the property to Base Companies LLC.
- It will better prepare the site for future redevelopment.
- It will end further damage from trespassers and vandals who have been drawn to the site since WPS shuttered it in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.
"It does reduce the potential for future property damage to occur to those buildings, but will also allow future buyers and developers to avoid demolition work and start their redevelopment work sooner," Cullen said. "It’s also important to note we still remain committed to working with area stakeholders to ensure this site is redeveloped to benefit the Green Bay area for years to come."
The WPS headquarters site is widely recognized for its redevelopment potential. The size of the property and location near two rivers and beautiful views make it "a gem of a site" that can support housing, retail, commercial and recreational amenities, said Matt Buchanan, assistant director of development for the city of Green Bay.
"No matter who the developer is that ultimately lives forward, the city will ultimately be here to help move those discussions forward," Buchanan said.
After 2 years of talks, WPS canceled purchase agreement with Green Bay-based company
WPS in April 2022 announced a tentative agreement to sell the site to BASE Companies LLC subject to site reviews and conditions. The construction firm has experience with redeveloping large sites, having overseen redevelopment of large parts of the Rail Yard Innovation District along North Broadway.
Cullen said the companies were unable to finalize terms of their purchase agreement and so WPS canceled the agreement. The decision to demolish the remaining buildings came as it evaluates its options for moving forward. Cullen the site has not yet been re-listed for sale on commercial real estate sites.
"We’re looking at what our options are as we move forward with a focus on making sure that site is successfully redeveloped and remains a valuable asset to downtown Green Bay as it moves forward into the future," Cullen said.
Paul Belschner, CEO of BASE Companies, said the company remains interested in purchasing the site and continues to discuss that possibility.
"We're not going anywhere," Belschner said.
WPS, Green Bay Police add security measures after rise in damage, trespassing calls
Since the buildings closed in 2020, WPS and the Green Bay Police Department have dealt with an increase in calls for service and complaints about trespassing, graffiti, vandalism, broken windows and other suspicious activity at or in the buildings. Graffiti can be seen on the rooftops and boarded-up windows, visible from the Fox River Trail.
Green Bay Police and city records indicate officers responded to the WPS campus address for about a dozen incidents in 2021, more than 20 incidents in 2022, and 17 in 2023. Patrol Division Capt. Clint Beghun said the level of activity presents an ongoing issue, but the site conditions are by no means out of control.
Beguhn said the site poses some challenges because it's not in a well-traveled area of the city, but he said police department has increased its crime prevention efforts in the area and has taken enforcement action against people found on the site. He credited WPS for doing what it can to secure the site.
Cullen said WPS has implemented its own security measures on the site and that it continues to work with law enforcement on the issue.
"Obviously people have seen what’s gone on and we share that frustration," Cullen said of the site's condition. "We're still working with our law enforcement partners to make sure we can prevent issues from happening as we move forward."
WPS headquarters site timeline
- 1871 to 1947: A manufactured gas plant operates on the site. The use leaves a tar-like mixture called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , or PAHs, in the soil.
- 1970: WPS opens its new headquarters campus
- 2003: Work begins to clean up site contamination.
- 2006: The Environmental Protection Agency designates the WPS site and the East River a Superfund site.
- 2015: We Energies and WPS merge to form WEC Energy Group. WPS continues to operate out of the Adams Street campus, but the headquarters moves to Milwaukee.
- 2018-2019: WPS and Georgia-Pacific partner to dredge soil from the East River contaminated with PAHs and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, which both companies had agreed to clean up.
- July 2020: WPS makes a pandemic-era shutdown of its downtown headquarters permanent.
- April 2022: WPS announces a tentative agreement to sell the headquarters property to Base Companies LLC.
- Summer 2022: WPS demolishes three smaller buildings north of Elm Street
- Early 2023: Crews removed polluted soil between Utility Street and the Fox River Trail and replace it with clean fill, part of ongoing site cleanup efforts.
- June 2024: WPS cancels the tentative purchase agreement and opts to demolish the buildings, leveling the site.
Editor's note: The Press-Gazette leases office space from BASE Companies LLC.
Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier .
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: WPS to demolish downtown Green Bay headquarters this summer; BASE Companies still interested in site
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