Allouez, SPARK break ground on $30 million mixed-use development

ALLOUEZ – Representatives from SPARK Development Co., a Northeast Wisconsin multifamily developer and property manager, and the village of Allouez broke ground on a $30 million mixed-use development, in Allouez on Monday, Nov. 9.

The three-story building, named will feature 103 market-rate apartment homes above first-floor retail and restaurant space, transforming a site the village of Allouez acquired in 2020 into a centerpiece for the Webster Avenue corridor.

“It’s not just another apartment building. It’s going to be a part of our community…” said Allouez Village President Jim Rafter. “This is going to be the anchor for the south side of the Webster District. We’re delivering what people have been asking for in Allouez — places to gather, places to live, places to eat and places to have fun. It is the beginning of the south end of our Webster Avenue corridor and we’ll connect it to the north end eventually and create a place where people want to be.”

The intersection is a cornerstone of the village’s long-range plan to create a walkable village center with housing, local businesses and community gathering spaces.

“A site like this doesn’t come together by accident,” said Craig Rose, vice president of operations at RODAC, LLC, the general contractor for the project. “It takes a community that knows what they want and keeps working at it.”

“This is the beginning of the beginning for Webster Avenue,” Rafter said. “We’ve been working on this for a long time, and we found a partner who will give Allouez what we’re looking for. We don’t want Allouez to be a place people simply drive through on their way to De Pere or Green Bay. We want people to come here because they want to be in Allouez.”

The project aims to offer longtime Allouez residents a way to downsize without leaving Allouez, welcome new neighbors to the community and strengthen the village’s tax base — something that isn’t easy to do with so few lots available for new development.

“We don’t really have any room to expand at all,” Rafter said. “We’re bordered by De Pere and Green Bay and two rivers, so we have to redevelop in order to bring what people want to our community and to increase our tax base… Allouez is a community that’s 150 years old and to be able to bring something like this project that embodies Allouez, it’s been a long process, but we’re so proud to be able to bring that to the community.”

Conversations began in 2015 when the village asked Allouez residents and business owners that they wanted to see in Allouez’s future. A 2018 corridor study revealed a desire for a “main street feel” along Webster Avenue.

“Community and business participation helped turn those priorities into a clear vision for a true ‘village center,’” Rafter said. “A place to live, shop, dine and spend time together. This has been a deliberate process shaped by public involvement and carried forward through years of planning, refinement and partnerships.”

Located on the northeast corner of Webster Avenue and East St. Joseph Street, the lot formerly housed a vacant strip mall. The village of Allouez acquired the property in 2020 and the village board voted to raze the existing building in 2023 to prepare the site for future development.

Commercial tenants for the first-floor spaces have not yet been finalized and the first
residents are expected to move in as early as summer 2028.

“Allouez has a clear vision for Webster Avenue, and we share it,” said Derek Liebhauser, CEO of SPARK Development. “We’re proud to partner with the village to turn a long-vacant lot into a true destination, with quality homes for people at every stage of life and storefronts that bring energy back to the corridor. This is exactly the kind of community-first project SPARK was built to deliver.”

The Allouez project, named “Meridian,” expands SPARK’s presence in the greater Green Bay area, where the company is currently leasing Novara, a 152-unit apartment community in Ashwaubenon, and developing One Astor Park, a 128-unit waterfront community opening in 2027.

“At SPARK, we take a lot of pride in developing projects we believe will make a lasting positive impact on the communities that they’re in, and Meridian is no exception to that…” Liebhauser said. “Our goal is to create something that not only provides a great place for people to live, but also complements the neighborhood and contributes to the long-term vitality of Allouez.”