Governmental leaders celebrated the official groundbreaking of new apartments in Manitowoc.
A ceremony was held this morning for the soon-to-be-built Maritime Lofts on the former Mirro Property on Washington Street.
Leaders say the project will provide workforce housing for those who make 30 to 80% of the median income.
Public Housing Marketing President for Gorman and Company Ted Matkom called the project an amazing effort by the city to bring the site back to the community.
Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels called the day historic and thanked the many stakeholders who helped make the site’s future possible.
He also gave special thanks to his city council for their work.
“They saw that we needed to take care of this property almost 10 years ago when the city took ownership, demolished the building, and started the process of what can be here” he explained. “And how can a city that is 150 years old that 100 years old building that had a lot of contamination, how can we make this the future.”
4th District Alder Jodi Brey represents the district and says not only was she excited, but her husband, the late Jim Brey, would have been too.
“I am pleased to be able to welcome new neighbors to the district four,” she stated. “And I’m pleased to be able to be here to say thank you from him for getting us this far. Congratulations.”
But representatives from federal and state agencies also played a major role in cleaning up the land to prepare it for development.
Lydia Van Thiel from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) helped the city get the tax credits needed to help bring the new apartments to life. She talked about the importance of Manitowoc investing in housing.
“When we invest in housing, we invest in stronger families, we invest in a stronger workforce, and we invest in stronger communities,” she exclaimed. “Congratulations on getting to this point in the project. It was really eye-opening to hear how much work and time was invested into this piece of dirt that we’re standing in front of today.”
Before anything could be built on the site, contaminated soil had to be removed, and clean fill had to be placed.
U.S. EPA Region Five Administrator Anne Vogel said their group looks for cities that pursue big projects that need Brownfield grant money.
She told the crowd, “It takes a great deal of community engagement for people to come along and agree that this is what needs to happen for this community. You have to find the site, you have to identify the site. You have to figure out what you are going to be able to do with the money.”
Last to speak was Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld.
The department provided almost $3.5 million to Gorman and Company and the city for the redevelopment of the Mirro property.
Blumenfeld says the new apartments will make a difference for families and workers.
“It’s not everyday we get to celebrate something as amazing as this,” she noted. “Not only will this project help expand affordable housing, it will simultaneously help transform a long, vacant, industrial site, revitalizing downtown Manitowoc for years to come.”
Not only does the groundbreaking mean a lot for government leaders, but for the community too. 8th District Alderman Bill Scheli explained that he worked for Mirro for a few years.
He worked for the boat plant, but the company would send him across the street to the actual factory to press out frying pans.
The Maritime Lofts will feature 59 apartments, including 21 one-bedroom, 20 two-bedroom, and 18 three-bedroom apartments.
The project costs about $20 million to complete, and residents will be moving sometime in early 2028. We’ll have another story tomorrow about new apartments and how long it might take tomorrow.
