GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – After years of ideas and tentative plans, redevelopment is finally happening at Green Bay’s East Town Mall.
Interior construction started in March, but within the last three weeks work has also started on the exterior. Within the next two weeks, the traditional mall interior will be shut off.
“It’s exciting because I want people to come by and say my god it’s happening,” said Garritt Bader of GB Real Estate Investments LLC, the developer behind the project.
The last two stores standing, Bath and Body Works and Consign It, will move to exterior only entrances when the interior mall is closed.
“A decade plus of discussions and plans for many different reasons they didn’t materialize,” said Bader. “Now I hope people see that yes, good things are happening.”
Bader grew up riding his bike to East Town. Now he’s giving the building a new lease on life.
“It’s going to reinvent this area, what people think of it,” said Bader.
Bath and Body Works will have a new location. Planet Fitness is moving in this fall. There’s also other commercial or retail space that hasn’t been claimed yet.
A majority of the building, however, is being reworked for American Tent, which will be tripling its tent production space by using the back half of the old mall.
Bader isn’t stopping with just the mall. He tells FOX 11 there’s plans for the old Fazoli’s nearby.
“Fazoli’s we acquired last month. That will be demolished in late July or early August. Plans will be going into the city soon for two new restaurants there for approval and we’ll start work on that this fall and they will open up next spring.”
As for East Town and the potential for additional buildings in its parking lot, Bader says more tenant news will likely come this fall.
