West Bend

WEST BEND, WISCONSIN ness pivot to an industry that is more relevant.We’re not so naïve to think that after 20 years,what has been done will always continue.We help them get where they need to be 20 years down the road; and make use of that land or structure, so it can still be a bright spot for the community.” Uniquely situated on Highway 45, just 40 minutes north of Milwaukee and 15 minutes south of Fox Valley,West Bend is a bit of a bedroom community serving those two larger regional centers - right in the middle where it can be its own community, but also give people the ability to be where they need to be.The city’s two large industrial parks are at 80 percent occupancy.At the same time, commercial is a big driving force behind the economy, because people do come in from the other cities to take advantage of what West Bend has to offer. “We’re growing all the time and keeping an eye on where we can build our residential population, as well,” says Shambeau.“West Bend is a communi- ty folks have chosen to reside in because of living wage jobs, a good school system (among the top 5 percent of high schools in the nation), and a great park and trail system.Our Parks Department is award-winning, statewide and nationwide, in many development and trail areas.We’ve recently received an award from the State Association for revamping our parks in the downtown Main Street area.” The Cast Iron at River Shores Complex is a great story of redevelopment of one of West Bend’s iconic industries–the former West Bend Company, famous for producing pots and pans.When the companymoved, that building sat vacant for a long time, until the Cast Iron Group came in and repur- posed the existing structures for residential and commercial, and added new greenfield growth.Not only are the Cast Iron Luxury Living apartments perfect for Millennials and seniors, they are pet friendly.The developer happily shares that occu- pancy is at full capacity and 80 percent of renters have at least one pet. “Speaking of private businesses,we would be remiss to leave out the non-profit organizations that help drive our economy,” says Gitter.“We’re talking about the downtown, filling up those Cast Iron apartments.We also have the Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA), a large footprint building that’s driving a lot of traffic to the core.And GOWA (Gallery of Wisconsin Art) is right across the street. The City really appreciates another non-profit called Roots and Branches.They come down with pots and plants and get business owners involved in beautifying the downtown.Millennials, seniors, everyone likes to see so many people invested in having a vibrant downtown feeling. It makes it much easier for them to decide to move here.” Directly across the river,west of the Cast Iron development, is an underutilized former brewery building.The City is nowworking through the ap- proval process for a proposed 99-unit, single-fami- ly,market-grade apartment complex. It’s “a monster new building” that will change the landscape from the current assessed property value of $500,000 to an estimated $13.5 million for the new building.