Grant funding will help Hollander Chocolate move from Fox Point to Port Washington
Fox Point-based Hollander Chocolate Inc., which last year received Port Washington approval to relocate its company headquarters to Port, is one step closer to redeveloping a former car dealership to make that happen.
On Tuesday, the Port Washington Common Council unanimously approved a $187,000 Community Development Investment grant between the city and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to provide funding for repurposing the commercial property.
Hollander's new headquarters will be located at 1180 Spring St. in Port Washington, where the company hopes to consolidate its existing office personnel into one location, according to its proposal.
The company plans to create a product innovation lab where the public could come for product tastings.
Hollander estimates it will cost about $750,000 to redevelop the property, said owner Doug Podzilni at the meeting.
The grant funds will be for a coffee shop, an interactive museum and a gift shop, Podzilni said.
"We really couldn't have done this without this grant," Podzilni said.
Last year, city officials approved Hollander's building, site and operations plan to relocate their headquarters to Port Washington.
With the acceptance of the grant, Hollander is obligated to provide the city with semi-annual performance reports during the construction phase of the project. They will also be required to hire an independent auditor.
Under the grant, Port Washington will not be responsible for other financial obligations by Hollander relating to the project, according to the agreement.
Hollander plans to redevelop the property in three phases. The first phase includes removing all remnants of the old car dealership and brining the building up to food grade standards, as well as refinishing the façade.
The second phase includes remodeling office space and building the product innovation lab; phase three involves building the areas for the public, including the coffee shop, gift shop and museum.
The company plans to move employees to the new offices before the end of the year and open the public and retail space next year, said Port Washington's Director of Planning and Development Bob Harris.
Contact Alex Groth at agroth@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @grothalexandria.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hollander Chocolate receives grant to relocate to Port Washington
