F.I.R.E.

Project Description

The project consisted of the initial phase of the redevelopment of a vacant 7.2-acre Brownfield Site at Greenfield Avenue and S. 1st Street in Milwaukee, WI. The initial $28.4MM project consists of the environmental remediation of the site and vertical construction of two buildings. The first building is an $11.2 million, 42,000sf Cermak Fresh Market grocery store that will include fresh produce, local and international groceries, meats, dairy and bakery. The second building will be a $16.2 million, 82.392sf mixed-use building that consists of 16,500sf of first floor retail space and ninety-four residential units. The residential units will include studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments above, of which at least 20% of which will be designated affordable. (QALICB II). The grocery and first floor retail space will bring commercial goods to 187,368 residents within a three-mile radius of the site of which 53.5% or 100,243 are low-income while also helping to mitigate the $111.3MM of annual retail leakage in this three-mile radius.* The grocery store will eliminate an adjacent USDA Food Desert and the project will act is the catalyst for the remaining development of the Brownfield site. The project is expected to bring 120 direct construction jobs and a projected 155 permanent jobs to a community with 40.4% poverty, incomes at 50.41% of the area median and 2.5 times the national unemployment rate.

Due to the high-remediation costs and limited value associated with the Brownfield site, a collaborative financing package was needed for the project to move forward. The financing included a brownfield grant, tax-incremental financing, bank debt, subordinate debt from a community lender, private equity and NMTC allocation. FIRE provided $12MM of NMTC allocation in conjunction with $10MM of allocation from the Greater Wisconsin Opportunity Fund (GWOF), which provided the below-market, flexible financing that was needed for the project to move forward.

CDE Alignment

FIRE focuses on providing gap-financing on urban core projects in the Southeast Wisconsin historic industrial corridor that create jobs, eliminate blight and help revitalize distressed communities. The gap financing provided by FIRE allowed this critical project to move forward in a highly distressed community in Milwaukee, WI that has all three of the primary distress criteria (median income, poverty and unemployment). The Project allows for the construction of a new grocery store, the remediation of a brownfield site and development in a much-needed community. The project will provide jobs along with healthy affordable foods to low-income persons and residents. This project focuses on the primarily on the provision of quality jobs creating between 155 positions, with 105 of these anticipated to be quality jobs. In addition, the project will provide 100,243 Low-Income Persons with accessibility to commercial goods and the project is directly aligned with community plans. The project will also provide for 120 construction jobs. Overall, the project appears to be in direct alignment with FIRE's stated mission and goals.