Project Updates

Stay tuned to DowntownVital.org for full transcripts of our interviews with John Vetter and Mayor Schmitt

With all that is happening along the river, it is easy to lose track of the progress. Below is an update on various parcels downtown, along with quotes from John Vetter and Mayor Schmitt relating to the progress at that site.

Boardwalk

The boardwalk will be built in phases as the riverfront developments come online. Work on the fundraising effort has begun in conjunction with the Community Foundation of Green Bay. “We’re working on that right now, that’s been kicked off,” Schmitt told me.

Comments from Schmitt:

• “It’s much more than a boardwalk and we need to come up with a better name.”

• “Our bids on the boardwalk have come in more competitive than we thought.”

• “When you look at the boardwalk, we based the tax increment financing looking at just the waterfront, and when you look at what’s going to be happening at the Bellin Building, when you look at what’s going to be happening at the Daily Planet site… they’re doing that because of the boardwalk, se we may take some of that tax and direct it at the boardwalk.”

Astor Place

Work has begun to prepare the site for Astor Place, straightening Washington Street and moving utilities. Vetter Denk has signed a developers agreement with the city to develop Astor Place, and in the event the project fails Vetter Denk is responsible for the cost of the site prep.

Comments from Vetter:

• “The reason the project hasn’t started is the market.”

• “By Thanksgiving of 2006 I would like to have all solid offers to purchase in my hand from people that are interested in this project. That’s not even a goal, that is a deadline. So all the people that reserved the project and are enjoying these nice pre-construction prices have until Thanksgiving to pull the trigger or not. I’ll be able to judge the market better at that point.”

• “I think the impact of the market may not impact our product as much as the general market in Green Bay. I say that because we have a on-of-a-kind offering here, there isn’t another tower like that in Green Bay.”

Comments from Schmitt:

• “It’ll start this year. I’d like to think we’ll start with some site preparations in ’06. I’m confident in this project and whether it starts in the next 60 days of 120 days, it’ll happen.”

River Center

River Center has been divided into two phases. Phase one is demolition, construction of parking, the Children’s Museum, retail, and residential. This phase is set to begin this year. Phase two is a commercial component, the size of which will be determined in response to market demand.

Comments from Vetter:

• “The catalyst for the project is the rental lofts. If we don’t start it (soon) we’ll lose the ability to do the project.”

Comments from Schmitt:

• “By splitting the project and saying the commercial project can come in June, we can start the project this calendar year, which has always been my goal.”

• Relating to the commercial component: “These large companies we’ve been talking with, this is a big move for them. They have to look at their needs over 20 year because it’s not like they are going to build next door, there’s some density down on the waterfront. I will say this about the commercial tenants, they’re spending money. They’ve hired professionals to look at their long term needs and what acquisitions they might make. With that said we can’t wait any longer because we have some other components that are ready to go.” Hence the phased plan.

• “We have said to the people we’re in confidential discussions with that you have got to let us know. We’ll give you six months but that’s it. They’re fine with that… it’s a big decision for them”

Site IV

The last parcel along the boardwalk to be developed, consider Site IV on hold until Astor Place and River Center have been completed.

Comments from Vetter:

“We’re finding that a lot of the people interested in commercial do not want that spot, they don’t like that site… They don’t think it’s sexy, they don’t like the location, and I think beyond that I’m not sure but we have heard that quite often. They just don’t like that site.”

Comments from Schmitt:

• “We always thought that Site IV will be the last piece along the riverfront.”

• “In five years when River Center and Astor Place are built out… I’m convinced that someone will say this works for us.”

Mall Site

Comments from Schmitt:

• “This is one of those items that there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes that we’re not going to run to the press with everything that we’re moving on.”

• “I don’t feel that the property is doing a fraction of what it should be doing, even when it was operating I had a frustration with it.”

• “I think it’s best that that property be transitioned to someone who shares the vision of the downtown or they refinance themselves and we come to a common understanding on how that property can go form the four million where it’s at to closer to 50 million where it should be.”

Believing in the Riverfront and Creating Civic Worth

Dan Moore - downtownVItal.org

I didn’t know it yet, but I was answering my own question, or more accurately, living the answer to my question. “It’s why the first thing you did when you came here was go to the Art Museum. You were compelled to get in you car and before you came here head right to the feature,” John Vetter would later tell me.

I made the drive to Vetter Denk’s downtown Milwaukee office to learn more about Green Bay’s riverfront plan, but as I am prone to do when I visit Milwaukee, I first visited Santiago Calatrava’s iconic addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum. I wanted to make sure that I arrived in Milwaukee with time to take some photos of the museum, and to soak in the atmosphere of what is possibly the finest indoor space I have ever been in – such is the lure of a first-class attraction.

It’s a lure that is not unique to me, and as Vetter would explain, why the boardwalk plan is so important to downtown Green Bay. “At the core of our philosophy and the core of our belief as architects and developers, we believe that each place, each space, each environment has a degree of life. Some places have a higher degree of life and some places have a lower degree of life, and the spaces that have a higher degree of life are places people want to be in. It’s why you went to the art museum, it’s why the Bilbao museum in Spain attracts millions of visitors on a monthly basis, it’s why people want to go to the River Walk in San Antonio… it has a high degree of life.”

As we spent time discussing the status of the various projects proposed in conjunction with the boardwalk, it struck me that this wasn’t just a business deal for Vetter, this was his art. He jumps around in his chair, he waives his hands as he talks, he taps the table to emphasize important points. It’s the energy of an artist trying to convince his patron of his vision, but in this case, the vision isn’t of frescos or sculptures, it is of dynamic urban spaces.

“I think to have a comprehensive look is critical,” Mayor Jim Schmitt told me. “When a developer looks at one parcel, while that’s of interest to him, the city needs be more comprehensive in its look to make sure we have complimenting development along the riverfront, and I think John brings that.”

This vision, the comprehensive look at a singular development’s function within a larger urban setting is the key to successful cities. The completed Riverfront Lofts and Nicolet Bank, combined with the continuing progress on proposals for Astor Place and River Center fit into a vision anchored by the boardwalk. The most important step taken by the city was committing to having a plan. Vetter’s contribution is bring vision to the plan, to make the plan first-class.

“These (the Milwaukee lakeshore and bluffs) were the invaluable assets that the people of Milwaukee entrusted to me. And they offered me something else as well, which is absolutely crucial for any architect. In the trustees of the Milwaukee Art Museum, I had clients who truly wanted from me the best architecture that I could do. Their ambition was to create something exceptional for their community.

“So the design did not result from a sketch. It came out of a close collaboration with the clients, who enthusiastically accepted the key idea that emerged from our discussions.”

-Santiago Calatrava on the Milwaukee Art Museum
From MAM.org

Calatrava, in talking about the process that enabled the creation of the Art Museum, makes an important point about the creation of public landmarks. Architects and developers can provide a vision, an informed point-of-view as to what constitutes effective design. However, in the end public spaces are always first and foremost a reflection of the community in which they are created.

“People can talk about stuff a lot and show you pretty pictures, but it’s the red zone, the last ten or twenty yards when it gets difficult. We have a lot of stuff in the red zone right now and we need to push this over the line,” Schmitt told me. He’s right; we’ve seen plans change, timelines altered, and arguments made against the plan as a whole. This is the nature of remarkable change, and those with a belief in the greater vision for their city ultimately reap the rewards of their perseverance.

For all his ability, Calatrava is aware that his vision for Milwaukee could not have been realized had the Milwaukee community not embraced and fought for his design. In the same way, the fate of Green Bay’s riverfront will ultimately be a reflection of the people of Green Bay. John Vetter and Chris Reed of StoSS Landscape Urbanism, the Boston landscape architect behind the boardwalk, can only inform our sense of design. The most they can do is create a concept for us as citizens to buy into, and provide a path on which to realize that concept. It falls on us, committed citizens who believe in our city, to follow through and fight for the vision until completion.

“When I look at Green Bay and I look at who we are, being Wisconsin’s third largest city and a city with a value over six billion dollars, I think the community deserves something better than just a little four foot wide walking path.”
- Mayor Schmitt

It was true in Milwaukee, and will be true in Green Bay. The civic architecture that defines the center of every city reflects the citizens of that city. Cities that embrace change and persistently guide that change through informed design are rewarded with not only engaging public spaces, but also a civic can-do attitude that permeates their community’s response to changes of all kinds. Cities that run from difficult circumstances or lack the persistence to see projects through suffer in ways beyond the quality of their architecture.

As Vetter told me, “You are not building a boardwalk for the heck of it, you are building a piece of civic worth.” In Green Bay we have the ingredients necessary for success along the riverfront. We have leaders committed to developing a plan, we have artists to who have provided us a vision to transform not only our downtown but to create a symbol of pride for our community. The ball is in our court. Our ability to make this vision a reality will show how much we are willing to invest in our civic worth.