Northeast Wisconsin received an early Christmas present the other day as Governor Walker signed the Historical Tax Credit Bill at Green Bay’s downtown Northland Hotel. Smet Construction Services was involved in the lobbying for this legislation as it provides an additional source of funding for renovating historical buildings. Smet assisted in the effort because of its involvement in the restoration of the Larsen Green historical property.
The former Larsen cannery buildings will be renovated and converted into an expanded brewery operated by Titletown Brewery. This is a “shovel-ready” project that is able to utilize the tax credits to close a funding gap in project financing. Brent Weycker, owner of Titletown Brewing Co., said “Old buildings are challenging. The credits give us another tool to justify tackling old historical structures.”
Smet’s Jamie Blom who has worked on the project over six months to bring it through the pre-development stages said: “The tax credits can be used by the organization to help offset any state tax liability or it provides for an additional funding source because of the transferability provision which brings additional equity to the project.”
Blom continued: “We have a great relationship with Titletown Brewery. We’ve been talking with Titletown about this project for over two years. We discussed several options and in the end, Titletown’s preference was to restore the old cannery which adds a campus feel to the district and secures the Broadway District as a restaurant and hospitality destination.”
Titletown’s Weycker added: “We’re really excited to get this going and create a great destination in an old historical building near our current operations.” “We’re excited about the new developments going up around the area with the KI Convention Center expansion and the new apartments getting underway!” The brewery plans to open its new operations by summer, 2014.
Greg Polacheck
Director of Market Research
[email protected]
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