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Details about D2 Centennial Circle unveiled

By Ben Rodgers
Editor

HOBART – It will be more than just a place to order a burger and catch the game.

The newest restaurant coming to Hobart will be spacious with room for much more.

“The building itself is around 9,500 square feet, and it’s going to have some great outdoor entertaining patio spaces as well, two of them,” said Brian Peters, project executive with Bayland Buildings. “It’ll have banquet capabilities. If you actually want to have a private venue, a private party, they will have a space on the side of the building for that.”

The Hobart village board gave preliminary approval to an agreement with HCD Investments on June 18, to bring the first restaurant to Hobart’s Centennial Centre on a three-acre parcel at the intersection of North Overland Road and Larsen Orchard Parkway.

The tentative name of the restaurant is D2 Centennial Circle and partners in the project include Michael Lenarduzzi and Howard Johnston, manager partners at D2 Sports Pub.

Peters said ground is expected to break this fall, with the resturant expected to be completed in spring of 2020.

“I think the challenge isn’t going to be whether this is a success or not, it’s going to be keeping up with that success,” he said.

Though Lenarduzzi and Johnston have a reputation for successful sports bars, D2 Centennial Circle will offer a different take on the Green Bay area staple.

“It’s an upgraded version of their current model,” Peters said, noting there will be a massive pizza oven and large fireplace.

He said it will be a mix of family dining with entertainment options as well.

“There’s nothing like it on the west side,” Peters said. “It will fill a niche.”

The investment group also has the right to develop the five remaining acres on the parcel.

“They’re not just focused on themselves, they’re focused on what else can they bring to Hobart,” Peters said. “I think their vision for what the next chapter looks like is great. They’re very business minded and they’re thinking about the big picture.”

Village Administrator Aaron Kramer wouldn’t give any details about possible other developments near D2 Centennial Circle.

“The investors wanted a period of time – it’s a short period of time in the big picture – to vet out some other development opportunities,” Kramer said. “If they don’t come up with some viable projects, the land just comes back to the village, no harm, no foul.”

The first restaurant to the area, arguably one of the best performing Tax Increment Financing Districts in Wisconsin, means the focus can shift from residential to commercial, he said.

“This is big for the Hobart community as a whole because it shows a large amount of investment and belief in the existing growth and potential growth of that area,” Kramer said. “This portion of not just Hobart, but the area in general, can use a restaurant of this nature.”

D2 Centennial Circle will also bring in more jobs for the area in an industry not established there.

“I know the labor market is tight, but I also think it’s one side that has been not as focused on,” Kramer said. “A factor we looked at is bringing jobs of a different level of employment than some of the other opportunities in that level of Hobart.”

However, Kramer said just presenting the opportunity is a calculated risk, backed by a heavy investment.

“The village’s position from day one was we will do what we can to foster that sort of investment and development in Hobart, but we are not going to heavily subsidize a restaurant,” Kramer said. “So a number of investment groups and individuals came to us with different ideas and different concepts, but this was really the first one that kind of met our comfort level, and once all the parties involved were able to see the potential and the pathway to make it happen, it happened relatively quickly.”

Centennial Centre is primed for commercial growth in the future.

The area already has a dense population center due to a mix of houses and apartments.

When the State Highway 29 interchange project is scheduled to be completed in 2021, Kramer said it will offer the easy access bigger commercial developments require.

“We eagerly anticipate the potential growth in that area,” Kramer said. “The biggest challenge for us is going to be having a growth pattern that is reasonable, viable and manageable. Building something just for the sake of building, without regard to impact on the immediate area, and the entire area is not something that we are going to take lightly. We want this to be manageable growth.”

Kramer said Bayland Buildings stepped up to the challenge and was ready to help grow the area.

“I got to tip my hat to Bayland,” Kramer said. “They recognized the dynamics that were in play in the other parts of Hobart, they recognized the needs and they played a great job in putting the pieces together. It made my job a lot easier.”

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