City of Marshfield Receives Five Proposals for Weinbrenner Shoe Company Factory Building

Tuesday, January 28th, 2025 -- 12:00 PM

(Erik Pfantz, Marshfield News-Herald) The city of Marshfield received five proposals from developers interested in working to redevelop the Weinbrenner Shoe Company factory building at 305 W. Third S.

According to Erik Pfantz with the Marshfield News-Herald, the city requested the proposals for the 90-year-old building in November, which asked respondents to provide cover letters, introductions to project team members, summaries of experience, financial relationships and a summary of their proposed approach to the project.

The city-owned property is expected to play a significant role in the next phase of redevelopment along the Second Street corridor in the city’s downtown. The city’s Downtown Redevelopment Plan, developed in 2015, suggested “residential adaptive reuse” for the property.

A council-approved 2022 West Second Street District project plan details further commercial and residential development plans with the intention of connecting the Central Avenue and Wenzel Plaza area to the Steve J. Miller Recreational Area.

The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 so each proposal features historic preservation strategies. Weinbrenner and the city agreed in August to a development agreement to ultimately move the over 130-year-old Weinbrenner Shoe Company to Mill Creek Business Park after leasing the downtown property from the city since 1935.

The company will spend $14.5 million to build a 70,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on land it is purchasing from the city. The new facility will allow the company to add 35 more employees.

Construction began in September with an expected completion date of Nov. 30, 2025, and the company plans to be fully moved out of downtown by early 2026.

The proposals include Project Profectus, LLC. based out of various locations in Wisconsin including Marshfield, KG Development Group and Catalyst Construction out of Milwaukee, J. Jeffers and Co. out of Milwaukee, Gorman and Company out of Oregon, Wisconsin, and Schafer Richardson out of Minneapolis.

Each proposal would turn the building into some form of housing. The Common Council’s RFQ Selection Committee met Jan. 21 to interview Schafer Richardson on their proposal and plan for future interviews with respondents.

These interviews will take place over the upcoming weeks. The Common Council is expected to choose a developer to work with on the property before the end of February, according to the timeline for the project set by the council.

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