Brown County adjusts terms, completes $1.1 million purchase of downtown Green Bay bank site

Jeff Bollier, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·3 min read

GREEN BAY - Brown County on Monday completed its purchase of the vacant Bank Mutual branch across from the central library in downtown Green Bay.

The county on Oct. 2 purchased the property, 201 N. Monroe Ave., for $1.1 million, according to Wisconsin Department of Revenue property transaction records. The property is south of Pine Street and adjacent to Encompass Early Childhood Education.

The sale ends a nearly two-month rollercoaster of activity regarding the bank branch originally built in the 1963 and vacant since Associated Bank bought Bank Mutual five years ago and closed the branch.

Brown County agreed to purchase the former Bank Mutual branch at 201 N. Monroe Ave., outlined in blue, for $1.1 million. The property has been vacant since 2018.
Brown County agreed to purchase the former Bank Mutual branch at 201 N. Monroe Ave., outlined in blue, for $1.1 million. The property has been vacant since 2018.

Activity began when Indian restaurant, convenience store plans submitted to city of Green Bay

In early August, a Sheboygan developer's multi-business plan spurred County Board members to make a last-ditch effort to buy the 1.2-acre property.

The site's owner, ProVisions LLC, accepted County Board members' $1.2 million offer for the site after the private developers' plans ran into concerns from Green Bay City Council members during the review process. The County Board approved the purchase on Aug. 16.

But Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach in mid-September vetoed the purchase. Pre-closing reviews of the Bank Mutual building and the purchase terms led to a discovery there is some asbestos, a fire-resistant material harmful to human health, in the building. County staff said the asbestos would have to be removed or the purchase terms modified before the sale could move forward.

The County Board on Sept. 20 first tried to override the veto, but the motion failed with 24 "no" votes, one abstention and zero "yes" votes.

After that effort failed, meeting minutes indicate the County Board took up a new motion to purchase the property for $1.1 million and to set aside $205,000 "to make the property fit for purpose," for a total of $1.3 million. The motion was approved by a vote of 21-4.

What does Brown County plan to do with the building?

The county intends to use the property's existing parking lot, located off Pine Street, for overflow parking for the central library.

The county hopes to convert at least part of the Bank Mutual building into a central kitchen for the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Brown County (ADRC). The central kitchen would provide the ADRC space to cook and prepare more than 600 meals per day for distribution in several locations. Documents provided to the County Board indicate the ADRC has already secured $3 million for the central kitchen project.

The new space in the bank branch building could give the ADRC capacity to increase their production to 1,000 meals per day to meet growing community needs. It would also provide more storage space and parking spaces for volunteers and meal participants at various times of the day.

The site's proximity to the central branch of the Brown County Library also presents opportunities for the library, ADRC and county to collaborate further in the future. The presentation indicates the site could result in improved community health and workforce development programs, operational cost savings, and improved safety.

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Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier. 

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Brown County buys downtown Green Bay bank branch for $1.1 million