Indian food, EV chargers included in downtown Green Bay plan; gas station raises concerns
GREEN BAY - A Sheboygan developer's $4 million plan for a downtown Green Bay bank branch, vacant since 2018, would add an Indian restaurant, convenience store and business center to North Monroe Avenue.
ProVisions LLC and Green Bay Area Business Development LLC have requested city approvals to redevelop the former Bank Mutual branch at 201 N. Monroe Ave. into space for four businesses. The plan includes installation of three public electric vehicle charging stations, something downtown Green Bay currently does not have.
The inclusion of the gas station raised a couple of concerns at the Aug. 1 Green Bay City Council meeting, and city staff members said a couple of site conditions need to be addressed. The council opted to send the request back to the Plan Commission for further discussion, review and a recommendation.
What's the plan for this downtown site?
The 21,000-square-foot building includes a mezzanine overlooking the main floor. It is bounded by Monroe on the east, Cherry Street to the south, The redevelopment would leave the building intact and the new businesses would create an estimated 30 to 40 jobs.
Basudev Adhikari, a member of Green Bay Area Development LLC, would own and operate all three ground-level businesses.
He plans to open a dine-in Indian restaurant inspired by his Sheboygan restaurant, The Spices Restaurant and Bar. A Green Bay Spices Facebook page was created in July. Site plans indicate an area for outdoor dining along the North Monroe Avenue side of the building.
"The demand for an Indian restaurant in the Downtown Green Bay area has been recognized," Adhikari wrote in his submission letter. "We are excited to bring the same quality service and food that has garnered praise and positive feedback from the Sheboygan community to the city of Green Bay."
A packaging and business service center akin to a UPS or FedEx store would occupy a center section of the building.
A BP-branded convenience store with six gasoline pumps would take the north end of the building, along Pine Street facing the Brown County Library. The store would operate from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. or midnight. Three parking spaces along the west side of the building would be converted into charging stations; the EV chargers would be publicly accessible and free for the first year before a fee would be instituted.
Adhikari, who operates 20 businesses in Wisconsin, many of them BP stores, also intends to move his corporate offices into the second floor of the building.
New use would fill building widely recognized for its sculptures
The building at 201 N. Monroe Ave. for much of its life was a Bank Mutual branch, well-known in the Green Bay area for the large sculptures mounted at both ends of the building. The branch closed in June 2018, shortly after Associated Bancorp. completed its acquisition of Bank Mutual.
The pieces, "The First Northern Voyageurs" and "The First Northern Loggers," were built in 1975 and 1980, respectively, by the late artist Lyndon Fayne Pomeroy from Billings, Montana.
Associated Bank in August 2019 donated the sculptures to community organizations for long-term display. The "Voyageurs" sculpture went to Heritage Hill State Historical Park in Allouez, and the "Loggers" sculpture to the Neville Public Museum of Brown County.
Adhikari said he looked at the building and a vision for the spaces came together quickly.
"The building is kind of unique in itself, inside and outside," Adhikari said in a phone interview. "It was one of the things that attracted me."
What concerns have come up about the plan?
City Council members during the Aug. 1 council meeting raised concerns regarding the convenience store, including the sale of alcohol, the need for gas pumps and whether reuse of the building fits with the push to increase density in downtown development. Normally, the Green Bay Plan Commission's vote would serve as a recommendation, but only four of seven members were present at the July 24 meeting and votes to approve and deny with conditions both ended in 2-2 votes.
The item before the City Council was a conditional use permit request, a requirement for a convenience store to sell gasoline. Council members questioned whether Adhikari could develop the site without the gas pumps, whether the uses fit in the location and whether there were too many convenience stores in downtown.
There's also a question about whether the store would be able to sell alcohol. City rules prohibit alcohol sales less than 300 feet from the door of a church, and the site is close enough city staff will need to measure.
City Council member Bill Galvin said he liked the inclusion of vehicle charging stations, but was not in favor of the gas station use.
"(Overall) I don’t think it fits with what we’re (council is) trying to do downtown," Galvin said during the meeting.
What do supporters say about the plan?
Murray Wikol, ProVisions CEO, said 15 or so groups checked out the property since the company bought it in 2022, and this $4 million project has been the best plan to move forward. He said the developers have adapted their plans to earlier input. (ProVisions also owns and manages the building the Green Bay Press Gazette leases. )
The number of charging stations was tripled while the number of gas pumps reduced to six. Wikol said the EV charging stations will "set a trend" in Green Bay and provide downtown a resource for which demand will only grow as electric vehicle production grows.
Adhikari said the gas pumps drive traffic to the store and without them, the convenience store would not be financially viable. He said the project will add value to the area in multiple ways and said he wants the opportunity to show the council he will operate responsible, high-quality businesses on the site.
More: Developer proposes $80 million transformation for De Pere Shopko site vacant since 2019
City Council member Jim Hutchison, the council representative on the Plan Commission, said he voted for the permit on July 24 because it activates a currently dormant site.
"It is kind of an interesting issue because it may not be what people think of being perfect for that, but is it more perfect that not being occupied at all?" Hutchison said. "It does represent actual jobs and activity on a site that currently is not operating."
Next steps: Green Bay Plan Commission, possibly next week
City staff expects the Plan Commission will revisit the group's conditional use permit application and plan details when it meets at 6 p.m. Aug. 14.
The restaurant, business center and office are all uses that are acceptable under city zoning codes. Under current recommended conditions placed on the convenience store permit, the developers must:
Conduct a traffic impact study, after any initial approvals, to assess the site's impact on nearby roads and determine where to locate entrances and exits to the site.
Submit a lighting impact study for the site and surrounding area.
Determine if the distance from the convenience store doors to church doors is 300 feet or greater, meeting the code requirement to sell alcohol at the store. If not, it could still approve a license if eight of 12 City Council members support it.
Adhikari said he understands the concerns the City Council raised and that he plans to work hand-in-hand with city staff on the traffic study, lighting plan and other site requirements.
After the Plan Commission acts, the request would go to the City Council for final action.
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Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.
Press-Gazette reporter Doug Schneider contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Downtown Green Bay proposal would add Indian restaurant, EV charging
