GREEN BAY – After years of working behind the scenes in the region, GRAEF has decided to move its northeastern Wisconsin offices into the heart of downtown Green Bay.

The Milwaukee-based multi-disciplined engineering, planning and design firm has worked on many projects in the area, including Resch Expo, Schreiber Foods home office, the Howard Village Center, and was even involved in the last Lambeau Field renovation.

Locally, it's just filled out a 5,700-square-foot space with 24 employees in the second floor of the Adams Street Garage, 116 S. Adams St. The company also has offices in Madison and Chicago, as well as in Miami, Orlando, Sarasota, Florida, and on Turks and Caicos Island.

The move to downtown Green Bay "was long overdue," said Pat Skalecki, senior civil engineer and office leader of this branch.

In a press release, the company noted the transformation of downtown and how a move has been in plans for a few years.

"We've managed to grow, get bigger and expand," Skalecki said. "We also wanted to be in an urban environment."

The relocation comes after 30 years in a office at the Baeten Farms Executive Office Park, in Ashwaubenon.

The new space was renovated to create a more collaborative environment, with a modern design that can hold more employees and growth. The downtown location also offers more exposure — something the company is not used to, Skalecki said, as they usually work "behind the scenes."

He started managing this branch of the company in 2017, and one of the things he immediately identified as part of a future strategy was to move the office.

The move is "to capitalize on that (exposure) and make people more aware of who we are," he said, "because we do a lot of big projects and we've been around for a really long time."

In fact, the company has done designs for pretty much every market, including health care facilities, bridges, roundabouts, sports centers, industrial and retail structures. It was also the associate structural engineer for the $295 million renovation of Lambeau Field, which added 11,625 seats to the stadium, new luxury and press boxes, an upper concourse and the retail area and offices of Titletown.

Skalecki said the office in Green Bay has done projects all over northeastern Wisconsin, with clients as far north as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, as far south as Fond du Lac and as far west as Stevens Point.

Recent downtown revitalization played an important part in their decision to move, according to John Kissinger, president and CEO of the company.

“The new office will provide our employees with the opportunity to eat, drink and shop downtown Green Bay, be surrounded by an energetic urban environment, and be closer to many of our clients," he said in a recent press release. “We are excited to start the next chapter of our long-standing partnership with northeast Wisconsin."

Likewise, Skalecki said, at their previous location amenities were a bit far away and everybody had to drive; whereas at the new space, they can walk to a restaurant, a coffee shop or even the river.

"Some of the things we wanted when we moved down here was to, engage, (gain) visibility and be involved with the community," he said. "You can sense everybody is better here, there is more energy you can feel it."

In a Facebook post, Jeff Mirkes, executive director of Downtown Green Bay, said it was "a great day" when a company like GRAEF choses to remodel and design a commercial space in downtown.

"The Adams Street Garage is the perfect space for this unique and talented team," he added.

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Ariel Perez is a business reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach him at APerez1@gannett.com or view his Twitter profile at @Ariel_Perez85

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Milwaukee-based design firm to move offices to downtown Green Bay