By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
ASHWAUBENON – A new four-story office building to replace an existing single-story structure at 2181 S. Oneida St. has been proposed.
Nifong Realty is seeking a Planned Unit Development (PUD) Overlay Zoning amendment to tear down the building where its office is located just south of Sammy’s Pizza along Oneida Street.
This is to make room for a structure that would increase the current height limit of 36 feet to 55 feet and reduce the minimum green space from 10 to 7 percent.
Dave Holzem of Nifong Realty said the new structure would have around 46,000 leasable square feet with the top three stories used as office space and the possibility of using the first floor for a financial institution.
“We’ve got a law firm interested and a couple of office tenants… so far we’ve got about 50 percent of the building pre-leased,” Holzem said.
Holzem, who is not disclosing the prospective tenants at this point, said he anticipates the new building will have from six to eight tenants.
“We’re thinking six tenants, it could be eight,” he said. “It all depends on that last floor, how it leases out,”
Given the value of land along Oneida Street in Ashwaubenon, Holzem said Nifong Realty is looking to redevelop the property to better utilize the space with the four-story structure.
He said the total cost has yet to be determined with the project still in the planning and design stages.
“With the value of the land and the location of the property, we just felt we weren’t using it to its best potential,” Holzem said.
Holzem said Nifong Realty would temporarily relocate its office elsewhere in the neighborhood during the project construction, which he expects will take about a year to complete.
He said he hopes construction will be able to start by the end of this October and be finished by around September or October of next year.
Holzem said enough tenants have expressed an interest in locating in the building to start construction.
He said the building will be constructed with brick on the exterior.
To facilitate the development of the site, Community Development Director Aaron Schuette said the village has agreed in principle to the exchange of two village-owned properties for a portion of the Nifong Realty property with the west 50 feet remaining with Nifong Realty to square the remaining property with village-owned property to the north.
A neighborhood meeting about the project was held Aug. 28 at the Ashwaubenon Community Center.
The village’s Plan Commission approved a PUD for the project at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 3.
The PUD must also receive final approval from the village board.
A site plan for the building has yet to be submitted for consideration by the village’s Site Plan Review Committee.