Two major projects are planned at
Port Milwaukee by Brownsville-based
Michels Corp. and Clinton-based
The DeLong Co.
The city's Board of Harbor Commissioners on Thursday are slated to consider two long-term lease agreements with the companies for properties at the Port.
The DeLong Co. is planning a new maritime export facility at Port Milwaukee that will handle agricultural commodities including an animal feed byproduct of the ethanol production process. Those plans could potentially include shipping soybeans and grain produced by Wisconsin farmers, the Port recently announced.
The DeLong Co. project will be one of the largest investments ever made at Port Milwaukee, pairing a $6.2 million investment with previously announced federal and state grants for a total capital investment of more than $30 million.
The DeLong facility will be built on Jones Island on 3.9 acres along the inner harbor. The terms of the 30-year lease include annual rent payments of $30,000 per acre. The long-term rent agreement will net the city $3.46 million.
The project includes the demolition of underutilized facilities on Jones Island, most notably the former Advance Boiler building located at the inner harbor.
Michels is finalizing terms on a 99-year lease at the Port for expanded Milwaukee operations, including new jobs, on 13.5 acres at the Port’s Grand Trunk site. The company already leases an approximately 10-acre site at the Port, which was purchased in 2012 when the company acquired the land-based contracting arm of Edward E. Gillen Company.
Michels is transitioning from a short-term lease on a smaller parcel to a long-term lease on a larger parcel at Port Milwaukee.
Under the new agreement, Michels would pay about $17,800 per acre annually for a total of $23.1 million over 99 years. The company will operate alongside the Bay View wetland restoration project underway on the Grand Trunk site. However, the company has not yet revealed what it plans to do on the site.
“I think they will make a future announcement,” said Jeff Flemming, Port Milwaukee spokesman. “At this point, they’re asking not to be specific about their use.”
Michels new lease follows a competitive request-for-proposals process. The lease will increase the company’s Milwaukee footprint, which already includes the
R1ver campus under development a short distance up the Kinnickinnic River.
The R1ver campus is a
$100 million mixed-used development at the former Horny Goat Hideaway property in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood. The project, which is already under construction, will include office space, apartments and a hotel.
