Green Bay Public Market seeks tenants; looks forward to open

GREEN BAY, WI- (WGBW) – The Old Fort Square on North Broadway in Green Bay is being transformed into the new Green Bay Public Market. In October, On Broadway broke ground for the Public Market. The project has entered the tenant recruitment phase. 

Brian Johnson is the president and CEO of On Broadway, Inc., a local 501(c)3 organization supporting downtown economic development, spearheading the creation of the Public Market. He said tenant recruitment is the main focus of its current efforts.

Getting into the details

“ It’s not a food court. And I think that’s really important to emphasize,” said Johnson. “This is about bringing in a lot of different types of products, whether it’s a fish, a butcher, a baker.  Our goal in this facility– you’re going to have prepared food. That’s what makes the most successful markets, but it’s about striking that right balance. And if you don’t have the right tenants, it’s a lot harder.”

Johnson said they hope to host over 300 events a year at the Public Market.

“A lot of them don’t have to be large, complicated events. It could be something as simple as a yoga series,” Johnson said. “But then you get something that, that might be a hands on cooking class. You do different types. ‘Here’s how you do seafood. Here’s how you do beef.’”

This is not a new concept for revitalizing areas. Johnson said that similar markets have been created successfully across the country.

“But you look at these across the country and where they exist, and they are all just so successful in terms of driving the revitalization of those respective areas where they’re in,” Johnson explained.

“This is about bringing in a lot of different types of products, whether it’s a fish, a butcher, a baker…It’s about striking that right balance. And if you don’t have the right tenants, it’s a lot harder.”

Brian Johnson, CEO and President of On Broadway, Inc.

The Public Market will be able to house up to 20 vendors to provide year-round access to fresh produce and other goods. The $18.3 Million project is expected to have a yearly economic impact of $65 Million. Because of that economic impact, funding for the project has been coming in from all directions, including the Brown County Board of Supervisors. It awarded the Public Market a $250,000 ARPA  grant.

Financing the Green Bay Public Market

“This is federal money. So what’s great is it’s not local taxpayers that have to fund it, but it’s the local taxpayers that will benefit!” Johnson said, “We’re excited to say that all entities of government are involved. You know, this is really at its core, an economic development project. And so we’ve been able to approach this a lot differently than normal nonprofits. There are economic development incentives. This is a tax-paying project. And so that’s really exciting because it allows us to do things a little bit differently and more economically.”

Johnson said they are still fundraising for the Public Market.

“We’re very close. We’re closing on our capital stack this first quarter. All the numbers are coming together,” Johnson said. “We still have a little bit more to raise, which is not uncommon in capital campaigns to get things rolling and started as we did, but finish up your fundraising efforts later on.”

The Green Bay Public Market is expected to open this summer.