Construction on the commercial portion of
Belle City Square, a 16-acre redevelopment in Racine, reached a milestone this month with the addition of a maker space for growing local businesses.
Known as
Maltworks, the multi-story historic building has been renovated into 55 office studios and is welcoming its first tenants.
The entire Maltworks building, located at 2224 Northwestern Ave., is leased to Milwaukee-based
Arrand Real Estate, which runs the Lincoln Warehouse in Milwaukee’s Harbor District. Similar to Lincoln Warehouse, Arrand plans to attract a range of artists, entrepreneurs and other small businesses to fill the Belle City Square building.
"(Our tenants) are looking for an affordable product to have a home for their business, a studio, somewhere that they can start small and grow from," said
Andy Bandy, president of Arrand.
The project is part of the multi-phase redevelopment of the former Horlick Malted Milk factory complex, located northwest of downtown Racine, a project that's being led by Milwaukee-based
J. Jeffers & Co.
The development firm purchased the long-vacant complex in 2018 and began rehabbing the historic buildings on the property and adding new construction. So far, two historic buildings have been renovated into market rate and affordable apartments and a new market rate apartment building has been built. The project's commercial component has consisted of a historic building next to Maltworks that has been renovated into a coffee shop called The Inclusive Bean and another historic building that is being renovated for office users.
"More than 100 years ago, they were trying to preserve some milk and came out with this stuff that tasted really good and made the chocolate malt," said Racine Mayor Cory Mason. "But these buildings sat in disrepair for a long time, ...and this next phase will create space for our small businesses to come and achieve, like we've been doing in Racine for a long time."
The Maltworks building officially opened this month and has five businesses that have moved in so far, including clothing retailers and hair and beauty salons, among others. The building also has meeting spaces and coworking spaces that can be rented.
"Sometimes we have people come to us and say, 'I've got a small business and I don't need a whole building. Where can I go?" Mason said. "To have an opportunity like this is really exciting."
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