The Packers on Thursday unveiled plans for their 34-acre Titletown District, and a 10-acre public plaza with "an ice skating pond in winter, an event area and a football field-sized green space" will be "the heart" of the mixed-use development, according to a front-page piece by Richard Ryman of the GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE. The development's "three anchors" will be Lodge Kohler, Hinterland brewery and Bellin Health. The Lombardi Avenue side of the Titletown District will "include 200,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment businesses in multiple buildings." Brookwood Drive will "include 30 to 50 two-story townhouses fronting their neighbors and with patios facing the 10-acre park, which runs through the middle of the development." The public space will include a "grassy area designed for events and festivals." In the center of the park will be "an area that in winter will be a full-sized skating rink landscaped to look like a pond." Work "could start this year with anticipated openings by the anchors" before the start of the '17 NFL season. Packers President & CEO Mark Murphy said that the district will "have its own identity, distinct from the Packers and Lambeau Field." That is "one reason they decided not to build on Lambeau property" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 8/21).
SHOW ME THE MONEY: The PRESS-GAZETTE's Ryman reports the Packers to date have paid $53.7M for “all of the land they acquired,” including $28.6M for land included in the Titletown District (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 8/21). The AP's Genaro Armas noted the Packers said that they "would invest" about $65M into the project. When "adding in estimates from other organizations involved, the total initial investment could be" as much as $130M. Murphy said that the team "doesn't plan to seek public money for the project, though it might look into some tax credits normally associated with such developments" (AP, 8/20). None of the revenue from the project is counted as football revenue to be shared with other teams or players (Daniel Kaplan, Staff Writer).
