Sagewind Development and Greenfire Management Services Break Ground on Potawatomi’s Greeneway Project in Kenosha

The Forest County Potawatomi Community (FCPC), Sagewind Development, Potawatomi Business Development Corporation (PBDC) and Greenfire Management Services celebrated a groundbreaking today on the Greeneway project in Kenosha County, a community-oriented, mixed-use development with integrated design features across 240 acres. Located on the site formerly occupied by the Dairyland Greyhound Park, the development will include multi-family residential, light industrial and commercial space and is planned to maintain and establish natural sites including woodlands, wetlands and prairies.

The FCPC purchased the Greeneway property in 2017 as part of its commitment to invest in and support growth throughout southeastern Wisconsin. The groundbreaking took place following a blessing of the property by Tribal elders and representatives and included local business and political leaders.

“Today marks a significant milestone in our history,” said Forest County Potawatomi Chairman James Crawford. “We are breaking ground on land the Potawatomi called home for hundreds of years, improving our current footprint in southeastern Wisconsin through substantial investment, while also honoring our past. This is the next step in fulfilling our ongoing and long-term commitment to Kenosha.”

Sagewind Development and Greenfire Management Services are both subsidiary companies of PBDC, which was established in 2002 and works to diversify the Tribe’s business interests beyond gaming.

Sagewind and Greenfire’s work on the Greeneway begins with developing new public infrastructure to deliver pad ready sites for development of commercial and multi-family residential uses.

“This is a very exciting project for Sagewind Development,” said Andy Wiegman, Sagewind’s general manager. “The Greeneway site has tremendous highway access and is ideally located adjacent to I-94 along the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor. We see incredible potential here and look forward to collaborating with local leaders to continue to develop the sites within the project and bring its many amenities to Kenosha.”

Including the Greeneway property, FCPC have invested nearly $30 million to acquire and develop properties in their treaty homelands in Kenosha County. Earlier this year, the Tribe purchased 23 acres of land for future development on I-94 in Kenosha. In October, FCPC announced the acquisition of five parcels of vacant commercial real estate in the Lakeview Corporate Park in Pleasant Prairie for future development. The five parcels total 128 acres.

June 2023 Project Spotlight | Laona EMS

Tucked away in the north woods of Wisconsin along Highway 32, there is a break in the trees. The current dirt roads leads to the future of safety in Forest County – the new home for the Laona EMS. Through many trials and tribulations, the Laona Squad persevered to find the funds, the property and the team to make this dream a reality. This EMS team serves a 400-mile area spanning several communities and the Forest County Potawatomi reservation. They are an essential part of the community and when they were faced with the realities of costly code updates in their former facility, they ventured down the path of a new building. Through multiple grants from the State of Wisconsin and the Federal Government, the new facility broke ground in June 2023 and will be completed this winter.

Greenfire assisted the Laona EMS team in putting on a groundbreaking ceremony on June 20, 2023. Guests of honor were founders of the Laona EMS, Board Members, Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld, Senator Tammy Baldwin’s Northwestern Wisconsin Regional Representative Anna Ringstad, project team members and several community members. Following heart-felt presentations from Laona Rescue Unit President, Annie Krawze; Vice President, Scott Reeves; Founding Member, Ward Leach; and the dignitaries, the crowd gathered for the ceremonial ground breaking. The event featured a local BBQ food truck serving food and beverages. All in attendance and the surrounding communities are grateful for this new facility and look forward to years of service from the Laona Rescue Unit.

May 2023 Project Spotlight | WE Energies Service Center

The WE Energies service center is now complete and in full operation. The project consists of the new construction of a service garage for the energy corporation in Monroe, WI to serve the needs of the surrounding rural community.

The building includes a two-bay apparatus service garage with a storage room and area, a training and conference room, offices and open workspace, and a kitchen. The building consists of a structural steel framing with a steel envelope atop a reinforced slab-on-grade foundation with cast-in-place footings and foundation walls. The administrative half of the service garage consists of steel stud framing, with all new MEPF systems. Sitework includes the construction of service and access roads, parking lots, and material storage.

The project was a design-build effort in collaboration with Gries Architectural Group, Inc. The building tapped into city sewer, water, and natural gas and was constructed from various building materials. The building scope also includes an extensive AV/IT service package and security equipment. Due to the locality of the site, the team employed a detailed communication, safety, and procurement plan to overcome the locality.

We would like to thank WEC Energy Group and WE Energies for selecting Greenfire as their construction manager for this important project that further serves the needs of the rural community. The project team includes Curt Begotka, superintendent, and Ron Wiedeman, senior project manager.

Mayor’s Design Awards recognize Greenfire projects

The Mayor’s Design Awards recognize design excellence throughout the City of Milwaukee.

Recipients demonstrate added value to their neighborhoods by restoring, constructing, or enhancing properties in a way that respects the urban fabric and contributes to the character of their surroundings. Recipients receive recognition in three categories: Places and Spaces, Vibrant Corridors, and Urban Renaissance.

Two Greenfire projects received Urban Renaissance recognition: The Wheatley, a redevelopment of a former MPS property into a mixed-use residential lifestyle campus, and Tribute Apartments, a mixed-use building with residential units and commercial space on the R1VER campus.
Urban Renaissance projects add value to the city by providing new or improved options for neighborhood housing or by adding or improving offices, manufacturing, or other amenities that add jobs, strengthen neighborhoods, and enhance the quality of life for residents.

We are proud to be included among the many notable honorees of the award. We thank the Forest County Potawatomi Community and Potawatomi Business Development Corporation for their backing and support and our customers, subcontractors, and partners who help bring these projects to life. Lastly, we thank our team for their hard work and dedication to delivering quality, innovative, and impactful projects. The involvement of everyone allows us to build these impressive developments and bring value and improvement to our surrounding communities.

Greenfire recognizes Chief Simon Day

On May 18th, Greenfire paid tribute to Chief Simon Kahquados, a respected leader and speaker of the Forest County Potawatomi Community. Chief Kahquados was the last in a line of hereditary Potawatomi chiefs, belonging to one of Wisconsin’s oldest families of Potawatomi inhabitants. He served as a spokesperson for the Potawatomi people, collaborating with representatives from both the State of Wisconsin and Washington D.C. to enhance their quality of life, lands, and welfare. His exceptional oratory skills enabled him to act as an interpreter while sharing a wealth of knowledge on various topics such as ancestry, culture, language, history, and the Potawatomi lifestyle. He was born on May 18, 1851, in the Black Earth Potawatomi Village in Kewaunee County and later moved to Forest County in the mid-1910s where he lived until his passing in November 1930.

If you would like to know more about this revered figure of Potawatomi heritage, continue reading here.

Greenfire ranks as a Largest Milwaukee-Area Construction Firm

Greenfire ranked #12 on the Milwaukee Business Journal’s Largest Milwaukee-Area Construction Firms list. The list features firms with locations in the seven-county Milwaukee area ranked by dollar volume of work from those local offices in 2022.

We express our sincerest gratitude to our clients and partners who allow us the opportunity to excel in this competitive and skilled industry, especially in the growing Milwaukee market. Special recognition also goes out to our entire Greenfire Team. To see our firm consistently ranked as a top construction company in Milwaukee means we have a talented group of dedicated professionals who understand this dynamic industry. Thank you for all you do to make us who we are and for your commitment to being the Builders Of The Future.

The Residences at Zuelke Ribbon Cutting

Tegethoff Development celebrated a ribbon cutting to mark the completion of the extensive Zuelke building renovation in downtown Appleton. The Residences at Zuelke consists of a full interior renovation of the 12-story former office tower into 66 apartment units with ground-floor commercial and resident amenity space. Greenfire served as the CM on the project and the team includes John Fleischman, senior project manager, Craig Bailey, superintendent, Devin Proctor, assistant superintendent, and Joe Kolavo, project development manager.

The development team hosted the occasion inside the building’s main floor lobby with the two-story marble walls, gothic bronze and brass fixtures, and second-floor mezzanine serving as the backdrop. Lead developer, Matt Cremer, COO of Tegethoff Development, gave opening remarks followed by the firm’s CEO, Jeff Tegethoff. Other speakers included Mayor Jake Woodford, financial institution partners, and Jeb Meier, Greenfire President, who acknowledged the team’s dedication and collaborative work with all trade partners. A ceremonial ribbon cutting closed out the program followed by building tours for all attendees and the public.

We are proud to have led the construction effort in the redevelopment of this key landmark and to renew the building’s historic character. We would like to thank Tegethoff Development for selecting Greenfire to serve as the CM on this transformative project and our team for their resolve, steadfastness, and collaborative work.

Read more about the renovation of the historic building.

The Locklyn receives Top Projects recognition

The Daily Reporter honored 42 outstanding construction projects across the state during its 24th annual Top Projects event held this month.

The banquet honored the projects with an award and a short presentation highlighting the scope of work, unique construction features and challenges, and usability. One of those projects was The Locklyn. Read more about the award-winning Greenfire project below or click here to view the short presentation video.

As a CM owned by the Forest County Potawatomi who has ancestral ties to the development land, we are humbled by the chance to honor our past by building a legacy for future generations and ensuring a quality development. The Greenfire project team included Mike Smith, senior project manager, and Rob Norris, project manager. We would like to thank Wangard Partners for selecting Greenfire as their trusted construction partner.

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The Locklyn is a multi-building apartment community that resides within the new Olympia Fields site in Oconomowoc, WI.

In an ongoing effort to revitalize the once vivacious stretch along Summit Avenue, Wangard Partners set forth to redevelop the former Olympia Resort and big-box retail center. The Locklyn is the first of multiple phases which make up the Olympia Fields development.

A groundbreaking in October 2021 marked the start of construction with mass site grading completed the next month. Before the winter frost set in, the team was able to pour and set slab-on-grade foundations for five of the seven buildings. Ground-up construction for each building took roughly nine weeks to complete, with turnover for every subsequent building approximately six weeks after.

From the layout of the site, which traces the edge of an existing pond to the design aesthetic of the buildings, The Locklyn reflects the natural landscape and freshwater environment characteristic of the surrounding Lake Country area. It includes the construction of seven Class-A apartment buildings, a clubhouse, and a resident pool. This phase also includes the construction of a retaining wall along the northern edge of the pond to level the site and allow for building construction closer to the body of water.

Similar to Tivoli Green, Olympia Fields is a great illustration of Wangard’s shared vision to build for the community by redeveloping large parcels of land to supply quality housing and commercial opportunity. And as the first phase of the Olympia Fields development, The Locklyn was so successful that it has now spurred future development opportunities.

Team Member Promotion: Rob Norris

We are proud to announce Rob Norris’ promotion to Project Manager.

His promotion is based on his attention to detail and his approach of taking full ownership to make sure projects run smoothly. Rob has been part of the Greenfire team for four years and has the ability to quickly pick up new information and effectively communicate to the entire project team.

WE Energies Monroe Service Center Open House

WE Energies held an open house on May 15th to announce the completion of their new Monroe, WI service center. The morning began with a few words by the representatives of the project team, followed by a tour of the facility and morning refreshments.

The project was a design-build effort in collaboration with Gries Architectural Group, Inc. The structural steel building sits atop a reinforced foundation and includes a two-bay apparatus service garage with a storage room and area, a training and conference room, offices, and a kitchen.

We would like to thank WEC Energy Group and WE Energies for selecting Greenfire as their construction manager for this important project that further serves the needs of the rural community. The project team includes Curt Begotka, superintendent, and Ron Wiedeman, senior project manager.

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