State provides $800,000 grant to revitalize former Tower Automotive site

The state of Wisconsin is providing a $800,000 grant to the City of Milwaukee’s Redevelopment Authority to assist in the redevelopment of the former Tower Automotive site.
Last year the city purchased 84 acres of the former 140 acres Tower Automotive site located in the central city’s 30th Street Industrial Corridor, is bounded roughly by West Capitol Drive, the Soo Line railroad tracks, West Townsend Street and North 27th Street.
City officials plan to spend about $30 million to clean up the property and prepare it for eventual redevelopment. City officials eventually hope to develop a business park similar to Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley on the former Tower property, and hope to someday have 700 to 1,000 people working at businesses on the site.
“The Tower Automotive site project demonstrates the state’s and Milwaukee’s shared commitment to working together to invest in the Milwaukee community and position the city for long-term economic growth,” Gov. Jim Doyle said. “This project will not only revitalize this industrial site, but will also protect public health and the environment and leverage private investment.”
"The redevelopment of the A.O. Smith/Tower Automotive property will remediate environmental contamination from a century of heavy industrial use, and the development of the Century City business park will return between 700 and 1,000 jobs to central city neighborhoods," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said. "State investment in this project will help to transform a highly distressed property into an economic engine and symbol of hope."