October 2024 Project Spotlight | Cream Puff Pavilion

Posted September 30, 2024 by Robert Boelter & filed under News, Commercial, Government.

The home of one of the most iconic Wisconsin Summer staples is currently undergoing an extensive renovation to bring it into the future: The renovation of The Cream Puff Pavilion at the Wisconsin State Fair grounds is currently underway, and Greenfire is managing the demolition and renovation of the historic venue.

Shortly after the conclusion of the 2024 State Fair in August, Greenfire began dismantling the interior of the structure to pave the way for modernization, accessibility and efficiency for the 23,000 SF building on the Fair Grounds Southwest side.

As demolition of the interior progresses, visible remnants of previous iterations of the building are coming to light, such as old signage, window casings and facades that have been covered up. This current project will see to a full restoration of the facility that will make for a much more functional and aesthetically pleasing version of the home of the tasty summer treat for generations to come.

Key improvements to the building will be the expansion of the kitchen space for the cream puff production, as the building’s west elevation wall will be expanded outwards to make room for a larger kitchen and increase fairgoer foot traffic space within the building. Full upgrades to the building’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing are within the project’s scope, including all new bathroom facilities on the building’s southwest side.

While the building is receiving proper modernization, great care is being put forth to restore much of the original building’s charm. Much of the exterior’s original woodwork detail and entryway arches are being restored, as well as new tuckpointing of the original brick façade. Within the exterior, there is original cream city brick that will be restored and repurposed for newly constructed segments of the building. The original window casings on the exterior of the building that were previously covered up, will be reopened with new windows for great natural lighting.

This project for the State of Wisconsin will ensure that the home of a Wisconsin original will be enjoyed for the thousands of patrons that flock to the State Fair every year and will create a functional and efficient space for the State Fair grounds that can be utilized year-round.

Woodale Crossing Featured at JFS Annual Meeting

Posted September 26, 2024 by Robert Boelter & filed under News, Multi-Family.

Greenfire’s latest housing development project was a key highlight of Jewish Family Services’ (JFS) Annual Meeting. As one of Wisconsin’s oldest non-profit organizations, JFS holds an annual meeting for their donors, stakeholders, leadership, staff, family and friends – as a chance to review the milestones from the past year, look to the future and break bread together. As part of the afternoon’s events, JFS hosted tours of their facilities along Bradley Road in Brown Deer. This provides donors and dignitaries an opportunity to meet JFS leadership and staff and learn about the programs and services that JFS can provide for vulnerable members of the community. JFS aims to foster healthy independent living while being able to provide supportive staff and care when needed to residents. A highlight of their tour was the progress of their newest supportive housing project, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Residences at Woodale Crossing.

Tour goers were able to view the site firsthand, and see the progress made since the project’s groundbreaking in May 2024. The project’s site is located just south of the convergence of West Bradley Road and North Teutonia Avenue in Brown Deer, WI – just a short walk from JFS’ existing housing communities.

Greenfire has made substantial progress on the building, as vertical construction has already commenced on the three-story structure. Greenfire’s early involvement in the planning process has yielded smooth project staging from demolition and clearing of the site, earthwork and precast foundation of the 56-unit apartment development, designed by JLA Architects. Greenfire’s extensive logistical planning has mitigated disruptions to the neighborhood and the adjacent existing JFS property, the Deerwood Crossing Senior Residences.

JFS, Greenfire and JLA were happy to host the tour goers to the site, which included Lt. Governor Sara Rodriguez – who was happy to view the project’s progress since the groundbreaking earlier in the year. The evening concluded with a dinner and speakers from JFS leadership, as well as stirring words of hope and optimism from Shakita LaGrant-McClain, the Milwaukee County Director of Health and Human Services and Elmer Moore, Chief Executive Officer of WHEDA. They reiterated the importance of the services that JFS provides to the community, and the positive impact that housing developments like Woodale Crossing can bring.

Granary Celebrates with Soft Opening

Posted September 20, 2024 by Robert Boelter & filed under News, Commercial.

One of Greenfire’s most unique, challenging and exciting projects celebrated a milestone event with a weekend of soft opening events and celebrations. The Door County Granary reached substantial completion of the second phase of construction at its home along the Southern waterfront between the Michigan and Oregon Street bridges in Sturgeon Bay.

Before The Granary was showcased to the public, the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society (SBHS) hosted a celebration for the project team, stakeholders and donors – to offer a firsthand glimpse into how far the project had come and reflect on the monumental achievement it was to make the current iteration of the project a reality.

As far back as 2020, SBHS began its efforts to convert the original 1901 Teweles and Brandeis granary into a public space as part of Sturgeon Bay’s efforts to redevelop the waterfront promenade. As one of the final two remaining granaries that once dotted the Great Lakes, the SBHS rescued The Granary from demolition at the eleventh hour by being able to grant the structure registration as a State and National Historic Place, thus beginning the journey of reimagining the structure to be put to use once again.

Greenfire has been involved with the project early on since setting new foundations and footings at its original location. Greenfire then began Phase II of the project, which focused on the restoration of the interior and exterior, the building of a catering kitchen and restrooms, finish landscaping and prepare the ground floor for occupancy. Many modern amenities have also been integrated into the project, such as heating and air conditioning for the kitchen addition, while the Granary itself will feature an in-floor heating system, maintaining its status as an unconditioned space without active heating. Greenfire’s involvement in the project has added value through buyout savings, enabling the inclusion of several additional design elements such as the in-floor heating and expansion of the exterior patio space.

By reaching the milestones of activating the ground level event space, the project team was able to celebrate the tireless efforts of the SBHS and their donors, as well as share their insight, challenges and triumphs of the project. LA DALLMAN Architects, Beane Engineering and Greenfire all represented at the event, and shared their aspirations for the space that we’re echoed by the determination of the SBHS to make this unique and historic structure come back to life.

AIA Honors Greenfire Projects

Posted September 13, 2024 by Robert Boelter & filed under News, Commercial, Government, Historic.

Two Greenfire projects received AIA Wisconsin Design Award honors. This year’s 2024 AIA Wisconsin Design Awards Gala was held at The Grain Exchange in Milwaukee, and two Greenfire projects were award recipients – Adventure Rock earned a 2024 Honor Award, and the Wgema Campus earned a 2024 Special Recognition Award.

Each Design Award nominee is evaluated using AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence – which considers the impact of environmental and social factors, as well as the design aesthetic of the project. AIA Wisconsin is the state chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which advocates on behalf of architects, and provides education and training.

Johnsen Schmaling Architects received the 2024 Honor Award on behalf of Adventure Rock. Noted that the project is a great example of adaptive reuse, Adventure Rock is a community climbing gym that transformed an industrial warehouse in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood. The repurpose of the space activated an obsolete building into a social community hub that engages the street both visually and actively.

Quorum Architects, Inc. accepted the 2024 Special Recognition Award for their work at the Wgema Campus – the redevelopment and renovation of a historic college campus in Milwaukee’s Concordia neighborhood on the Near West side. Now owned by the Forest County Potawatomi Community, the Wgema Campus serves home to many tribal entities and tenants, including Greenfire’s Milwaukee corporate office. Great efforts were made to preserve as many original and historic features of the collegiate buildings as possible, while implementing many modern amenities and mechanisms, many to LEED® standards. The campus is a fully secured complex, featuring office and commercial space, an underground parking structure, EV charging, spaces for community engagement, and the renovation and modernization of a historic gymnasium.

Greenfire is proud of the results of these now award-winning projects and congratulates Johnsen Schmaling Architects and Quorum Architects on their efforts and vision for each project.

Greenfire Wins Marketing Awards

Posted September 6, 2024 by Robert Boelter & filed under News, Tribal.

Greenfire’s business development and marketing celebrated two 2024 Red Granite marketing award wins from SMPS Wisconsin: Award of Excellence for Holiday Piece and the Best In Show! We’re proud to receive recognition for our unique holiday gift we gave to our clients and friends this past holiday season.

Greenfire “turned up the heat” with our holiday gift as we embraced our origins by highlighting Indigenous-owned and small businesses. As a construction management firm owned by Potawatomi Ventures, a diversified investment of the Forest County Potawatomi Community tribe, our roots run deep and blossomed in our client appreciation gift.

The concept originated from an award-winning BBQ sauce from BP Smokehouse. This family-owned, Indigenous, small business is part of the Ho-Chunk Nation, founded in Tomah, WI. We paired the sauce with an artisanal, bamboo, cutting board that features the Greenfire flame from our logo. Michael Moe, our business development manager is also a Forest County Potawatomi Community member and hand-burned the logo onto each board. He hosted a group of Greenfire team members at his workshop to foster camaraderie while burning all the boards for the gift boxes. It was important for us to include a functional keepsake from this year’s client gift for brand recognition.

As construction managers part of our project approach is to champion and source local subcontractors and suppliers. Keeping in line with this mindset, we included a decorative gift bag of smoking pellets that are made by Smokey Woods, a fellow Milwaukee real estate professional. Supporting local small businesses is always a pursuit of Greenfire.

The greeting card features a commissioned photograph of a tribal member in ceremonial dress. The photograph is by a Forest County Potawatomi Community member, Clarissa Friday. She owns Native Clarity photography and is known for tribal portraits, family, and event photography. Our greeting card not only featured warm wishes and signatures from our entire leadership team, but we also welcomed our clients to keep the card and frame it for decoration.

We tied it all together in a natural aspen filled, custom-designed, flame-adorned gift box to challenge the status quo of just the standard brown shipping box. We included the headline “We are heating things up,” with our logo on the exterior of the black box with bright green flames. Then on the inside, we included our tagline that also acts as our social media hashtag. By creating a unique exterior appearance of the gift, it encouraged our team to hand deliver the gifts to our clients as a business development touch point.

Thank you to SMPS, the premier AEC marketing and BD association for the honors! It is great to be recognized for our holiday gift that we put a lot of thought into – our way of saying “thank you” to our clients, partners, family and friends.

The Spark | September 2024

Posted September 1, 2024 by Robert Boelter & filed under News.

Greenfire beat the summer heat by engaging in cool events, project milestones and networking opportunities. We look to continue our momentum on projects like JFS Woodale Crossing. This season is filled with charitable events and outings, and allows us to give back to the community.

Take a break from your endless scrolling and get caught up here – the September 2024 edition of #TheSpark

#BuildersOfTheFuture

September 2024 Project Spotlight | JFS Woodale Crossing

Posted August 30, 2024 by Robert Boelter & filed under News, Multi-Family, Senior Living.

A vital, supportive housing development in Brown Deer is beginning to take shape. Greenfire’s team is overseeing construction of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Residences at Woodale Crossing, Jewish Family Services’ (JFS) newest housing project in Brown Deer.

Significant progress has been made since the project’s groundbreaking in May, 2024. The site is located just south of the convergence of West Bradley Road and North Teutonia Avenue and had to be cleared of an existing, unoccupied structure, parking lot and overgrowth. Once demolition was complete, extensive earthwork and grading commenced to clear the way for the precast foundation of the 56-unit apartment development, designed by JLA Architects. A steady stream of earth moving equipment and dump trucks populate the site daily as infill of the building’s foundation and podium take shape.

Greenfire’s early involvement in the planning process has kept progress on the project steady. Careful site logistic planning has mitigated disruptions to the surrounding neighborhood, as well as an existing JFS housing development, the Deerwood Crossing Senior Residences, adjacent to the construction site. As the building’s base and core near completion, vertical construction of the three-story building commences in the coming weeks.

Once completed, Woodale Crossing will provide much needed supportive housing to the Brown Deer community. The new housing project will provide safe and supportive housing to seniors and those living with disabilities. Features of the new development include underground parking, offices for support staff, communal space and outdoor patio spaces for residents to enjoy. The building will feature studio, one- and two-bedroom layouts. The housing community will foster healthy and independent living while being able to provide supportive staff and care when needed.

Greenfire looks to keep strong momentum on Woodale Crossing to help make this vital affordable multi-family housing project a reality and make a positive impact for individuals and families.

Simmi Urbanek Named Notable Marketing Executive

Posted August 19, 2024 by Robert Boelter & filed under News.

Simmi Urbanek has been named a 2024 Notable Marketing Executive by BizTimes, a Milwaukee area business news publication.

Simmi is the Director of Marketing for Greenfire Management Services and brings 20 years of experience in marketing for the industry. She oversees internal and external communications, manages the proactive marketing approach and helps elevate the Greenfire brand.

Simmi is also engaged in business development and client relationships at Greenfire. Her involvement in client events, community events and fundraisers are vital to the success of the team. She provides expertise in the planning and execution of project milestone events like groundbreakings and ribbon cutting ceremonies. Simmi is also meeting with new clients to understand their project goals and help build future opportunities with Greenfire.

Simmi is active in organizations outside of work including Islands of Brilliance and United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County. As a director on the board of Islands of Brilliance, she serves as the chair of the fundraising committee. Previously she served as a mentor and taught neurodivergent kids graphic design skills. For United Way, she serves on the marketing committee, and chairs an annual employee-giving campaign at Greenfire.

Recently she was involved in the Walker’s Point Association (WPA), which she has served as President, and on the marketing and events committee. Urbanek joined the association in 2015 to attend WPA Community Gatherings. She then volunteered to organize the gatherings, and her efforts increased attendance. In 2018, she joined the board and helped with initiatives like 5th Street Fest, neighborhood clean-ups and revamping the branding of the organization. She was elected president in 2020 and continued to be re-elected each year until her final term ended in 2023. Throughout her terms she helped recruit over 185 business members, distribute over $5,000 in scholarships to local Bradley Tech High School students and wrote letters of support for eight new businesses to receive grants during the pandemic.

In addition to these organizations, she’s also a member of Professional Dimensions, where in 2023, she also served as the Chair of the Imprint Awards, raising over $100,000 for Nia Imani (A woman’s supportive housing organization in Milwaukee). She enjoys public speaking, networking and helping connect people to resources.

Greenfire is very thankful for all that Simmi does for our team, and the greater Milwaukee area! Below is a link to BizTimes’ article:

Notable Marketing Executives: Simmi Urbanek (biztimes.com)

Greenfire Co-hosts Davidson Park Tour

Posted August 17, 2024 by Robert Boelter & filed under News.

Even after a few months since the park’s official ribbon cutting, there is still a buzz of excitement and engagement for the newly opened Davidson Park at Harley-Davidson’s Milwaukee headquarters. Among the many events the park has hosted since its opening, Greenfire was proud to sponsor an AEC-focused tour of Davidson Park, also hosted by The Harley-Davidson Foundation, HGA and the United Performing Arts Fund.

The transformative public space was on full display for guests, as what was once an underutilized corporate parking lot now stands a stunning topographical space that hopes to revitalize not only Harley-Davidson’s use of their historic Juneau Avenue headquarters, but also Milwaukee’s near west side as well. The park’s spacious and varying levels allowed for groups to peruse the park at their leisure and stop at sponsored stations. There were live performances by members of UPAF, delicious fare from Tots on the Street, Mazorca Tacos, and refreshments served from 1903, the permanent bar sponsored by MolsonCoors. As the construction managers of the project, Greenfire was honored to take part in the event and offer our insight into the project to patrons of the tour. Greenfire’s own Simmi Urbanek, Director of Marketing, greeted tour guests at the park’s Potawatomi Serenity Garden.

Developed in collaboration with the Forest County Potawatomi Community, the Harley-Davidson Foundation wanted to devote a portion of the park that incorporated influence from the Tribe’s heritage, who used to reside where the park stands now. A traditional Serenity Garden was designed and implemented with help from the Tribe, and incorporated elements of a symbolic medicine wheel. Surrounding the central grandfather stone are traditional plantings synonymous with elements of healing. To the east will be tobacco, to the south is cedar, to the west is sage, and to the north is sweetgrass.

The Serenity Garden offers a tranquil space for park goers to engage in peaceful meditation and reflection. Adjacent to the Garden is a time capsule that will be opened in 30 years. The contents include various trinkets, as well as written notes from neighbors about hopes and aspirations for the park that hope to be realized by the capsule’s opening.

Greenfire is proud of our efforts at Davidson Park and look to continue to help share our stories and insight into the park with the community for years to come.

First Nations School Supply Drive

Posted August 16, 2024 by Robert Boelter & filed under News, Tribal, Uncategorized.

The Greenfire Team had the honor of presenting the donations from our Back-to-School Drive for the First Nations Studies Program of Milwaukee Public Schools. We are excited to share that with the help from our friends at Potawatomi Ventures and Data Holdings Data Center, together our First Nations supply drive raised $2,500.00 in donations and school supplies along with 19 filled backpacks and 4 boxes of supplies.

First Nations Studies provides services at schools with concentrations of indigenous students. They also provide resources and training to schools across the district. The program receives multiple grants from the Office of Indian Education, including a Title VI formula grant, Native Youth and Community Partnership discretionary grant, and Assessing Choices in Education discretionary grant. Under these grants, Milwaukee students can receive classroom assistance at schools with a collective of Native students, language and culture, and talking circles. First Nation Studies also offers access to great programs such as their College Access Program, utilizing their “Expanding the Circle” curriculum, designed to help Native American high school students prepare for college and beyond. They also offer after-school tutoring, beading and sewing classes, a drumming circle and a book club that engages students with fun activities to help improve literary skills.

The supplies Greenfire and our partners donated to the First Nations supply drive, as well as money raised will benefit K-12 students that the First Nations Studies offers services to. Did you know that this program provides services to over 1,600 students? Greenfire is proud to collaborate our efforts to directly benefit students in our community.

A huge thank you to members of our team, Potawatomi Ventures and their subsidiaries, and neighbors who contributed to our drive and continue to help us live by our core values and to the First Nations Studies – MPS Team for helping their students achieve great things!