Starting from Scrap

Where much development prefers to start from "scratch", a development in northeast Wisconsin has started from "scrap'! Tons of scrap but also hundreds of thousands of dollars of recycling income. Such is the new beginning for Larsen Green, a 22 acre redevelopment in downtown Green Bay.

Originally the site of the Larsen Canning Site, the abandon property was purchased by On Broadway, Inc. (OBI) in June of 2007 at the recommendation of Dimension IV. The first work on the site was to recycle and recover as much of the facility as possible while keeping key historical components. Those efforts were completed in May of 2008.

Simultaneously with the recycling and recovery efforts was the renovation of one of the historic buildings into modern office space for a local insurance firm, Vincent Urban and Walker. In addition, Smet Construction purchased the corner of the property and will complete a three story, 35,000 square foot mixed use building by the end of 2008. The first floor will be occupied by Shopko Express, a national convenience and pharmacy store. The third floor will be the new home of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. The second floor is currently available.

The south anchor of the development is Titletown Brewing Company, a local brew pub. Titletown has been the "steady" neighbor to the property since Titletown's remodeling of the Chicago Northwestern Train Depot in 1996 and long before OBI's investment in the site. Since beginning operations in Green Bay, Titletown has never had a dominating "street pressence". That is changing as the first extentions of the street grid and construction of the community parking areas draws to completion. By September, Titletown will be sporting a new "address" without ever moving. Completion of the first phase of the Pearl Street Extension will give this historic structure its proper orientation in Green Bay, front and center on Pearl Street.

Future plans call for additional streets and parking and the development of over 100 small lots into mixed use urban space. The vision for the redevelopment was created by the partnered efforts of Dimension IV and OBI. The work is to unfold over the next ten years and includes retail, office, service business, residential and other uses. The focus will be toward building a creative community and live/work spaces in a green and sustainable environment. Larsen Green is designed to meet the USGBC requirements for a LEED Neighborhood Development once those standards are available in the Spring of 2009.

For additional information, call Naletta Burr at Dimension IV or contact Kelly Czypinski at OBI.

The Fourth Dimension...

Architecture is traditionally viewed as the physical, three-dimensional construction of the human environment. Truly memorable architecture, however, moves beyond the three-dimensional and exhilarates, enlightens and enhances the human experience through the considered manipulation of a fourth dimension – time. It is in time that a building becomes great. Not necessarily great in terms of “monumental”, but great in terms of meeting the needs of the owners and users of the building. In time, materials either endure or decay. In time, the entry sequence and flow through a building either works or is modified. In time, a building is either a wise investment or burdensome overhead. In time, a building either becomes part of the sustainable environment or a problem to the owners and community. In time, a building is either copied or razed.

The “best” architecture is designed in consideration of this fourth dimension, time. Time defines the durability of the materials, the users sequence through the building, the fit for the stakeholders and the environment and the building’s prominence in the community.