The city of Port Washington is set to receive a $187,000 grant from the
Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. that will help food manufacturer
Hollander Chocolate with ongoing renovations at its
new headquarters, located at 1180 S. Spring St.
The funding was awarded through WEDC’s Community Development Investment Grant Program. Hollander Chocolate’s ongoing project, which is redeveloping an abandoned car dealership, is also helping improve the city’s first impression on visitors and residents while bringing economic value to the community, according to WEDC.
“One of WEDC’s top priorities is helping communities enhance their business districts and establishing firm foundations for future growth and development,” said
Missy Hughes, secretary and chief executive officer of WEDC. “This type of revitalization will not only enhance Port Washington’s gateway district but serve as a catalyst for success.”
The renovation project is broken up into three phases. The first phase of the project involved removing all remnants of the old car dealership, bringing the building up to food grade standards, and securing state and federal certifications. The company plans to build new office space and a product innovation lab. Office personnel would also move into the new building in this second phase of the project. The final phase of development will see the construction of a coffee shop, gift shop, chocolate museum and interactive innovation lab. The coffee shop will not be run by Hollander Chocolate, but a to-be-announced existing company.
Doug Podzilni, president and co-founder of Hollander Chocolate, said phase one of the project is well underway. The company has its food grade license for the warehouse portion of the building, so product can now be stored there. A loading dock will be installed in about a month, at which time the warehouse is expected to be fully operational.
“We’ve got a long way to go on the inside to get to the office side, which is phase two,” said Podzilni. “There’s still a lot of demolition and construction going on. We’ve come up with a really interesting way to extend out (the building’s) mezzanine level.”
When visitors walk into the building, there will be two levels of space, with the coffee shop and public attractions being housed on the upper level. This will all be constructed within the building’s existing footprint of approximately 24,450 square feet, although Podzilni said the company has space earmarked for future growth.
“Our plan is to add another 25,000 square feet of space. It could be 100 percent warehouse, or it could be warehouse and a little office or retail space,” he said.
The goal is to have staff moved into the new building by the end of the year and a ribbon cutting for the public facing attractions next spring.
“That’s a pretty aggressive goal but I think it’s doable if we multi-task,” said Pozilni. “We will be adding more people. We’ll probably be adding another headcount every three to six months for the foreseeable future. That would be my guess,” said Pozilni.
Hollander Chocolate is a start-up company specializing in dutched chocolate products. It was founded in Wisconsin in 2017. The company produces café sauces and chocolate powders using Rainforest Alliance Certified ingredients for restaurants, cafés and retail consumers.
Hollander Chocolate moving its headquarters and distribution operations from Fox Point to Port Washington is part of a larger plan to improve the city’s gateway district and encourage future development projects in the district.
