City OKs plan for second phase of central city business park

The City of Milwaukee has approved financing for the $3 million second phase of the North Avenue Commerce Center, the first business park in the central city.
The 55,000-square-foot, second phase of the central city business park which Mayor John Norquist approved will begin construction in the fall. Once completed in the spring and leased, it is expected to be home to up to 100 new jobs.
The North Avenue Commerce Center is located on 15 acres in the heart of the central city on long-vacant land between North 24th and North 27th streets, on the north side of West North Avenue once cleared for freeway construction.
Goodwill Industries leases the $2.4 million first phase of the commerce center, where it employs 50 to 70 workers in a new 57,600-square-foot building that opened two years ago. Its Goodwill Commerce Center, 2620 W. North Ave., houses a textile recycling business and an employment training program connected with the W-2 initiative.
That Goodwill facility will ultimately employ 110 workers in addition to the 100 expected to work in the business park’s second phase, which has not yet been leased.
Irgens Development Partners, LLC, of Wauwatosa, which is developing the business park under an agreement with the city and the Redevelopment Authority, will build the second phase on land just to the east of the first phase.
“The commerce center’s success is leading to this major expansion, and we look forward to building a third phase in the future,” said Mark Irgens, Irgens Development president.
The city will provide nearly $1 million in city equity and other financing for the expansion.