GREEN BAY – The preservation of Platten Place represents the importance of the Historic Tax Credit Program and historic identity to the Green Bay community.
A staple of the Broadway District for over a century, Platten Place has brought numerous businesses to life before becoming a residential living and commercial space.
Platten Place, originally known as the Platten Building, first served as a retail building housing West Side Bank, built in 1913 by Peter Platten II and Anton Platten.
“It was a big anchor in our district and had a pretty colored history in terms of how it was used,” said Christopher Naumann, founder of Christopher Max Design & Development LLC and former executive director of On Broadway Incorporated.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, the Platten Building provided apartments for the economically-challenged population and eventually was home to Advanced Aquariums.
Despite the need for renovation and reinvestment, Toho Properties LLC saw the historic value and bright future of the building, and after buying the Platten Building in 2012, began the redevelopment into Platten Place.
“I had worked with Project Manager Jason Tschantz… He took on that project with the owner and proceeded to renovate that building, really cleaned it up…” Naumann said.
Naumann spoke of the numerous renovations made during the restoration process, including moving Advanced Aquariums out of the building, repainting and restoring the storefronts, new awnings and signage, new kitchens and bathrooms, building a new elevator core and stairs at the rear of the building as well as moving in new tenants.
“They really breathed new life into that building that is now essentially one of the prominent northern anchors of the Broadway district,” Naumann said.
Much of the building’s original elements were preserved throughout the process — tall ceilings, tile and woodwork — and many units were kept the same size.
These historic elements were kept partially due to the restoration and use of the historic tax credit program.
The Patten Place restoration used both the federal and state historic tax credit programs, each returning 20% of the cost as federal and Wisconsin income tax credits.
Through the help of the historic tax credit program, what once was the Platten Building was able to prosper into the Platten Place found in the Broadway district today.
“The tax credit helped offset some of those costs… being able to exercise that and leveraging it,” Naumann said.
Naumann further spoke on how the Platten Building saw the early days of Green Bay history, when the east and west sides were separate communities.
Over time, the Platten Building has housed many well-known businesses and supported the Green Bay economy.
The preservation of this building continues to act in the interest of the community.
“Buildings, particularly those that have survived longer than people, they connect you to the past… It tells us a lot about history and who we are as a people and who we were, and I think those connections are important… So that’s why I think preservation in these buildings is important, because there are uses for them that people might not be thinking about that still would be a good functional use for the building,” Naumann said.
Patten Place, the former Platten Building, is located at 241 N. Broadway, Green Bay.
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