'Project Wild' Development In Brookfield Could Get City Grant

BROOKFIELD, WI — The city could give a $225,000 grant to an unnamed tenant to build a 240,000-square-foot manufacturing building in Brookfield.

The city said that "Project Wild" has completed negotiations with Rizzo Development Group to build a manufacturing and corporate office building at the Northbrook Commerce Center (21290 Gumina Road).

The city described Project Wild as a local manufacturer staffed with structural, mechanical and electrical design engineers.

Daniel Ertl, the director of community development for the city, said that the developer was left unnamed because the contract was still under private negotiation.

"Most contracts under negotiation are not by the public sector, they're by the private sector," he said. "They can keep things among themselves. The only reason that we're involved is that we're offering a modest grant to help close any gaps that exist in those private negotiations."

Ertl said that the name would be publicly announced once the corporation and the project builder come to a contract agreement.

According to the city, the grant award won't be made until a long term lease agreement is made between Project Wild and Rizzo Development Group. It added that either Rizzo or Project Wild would have to come up with an invoice saying that it has spent the nearly quarter million dollars on building construction.

The grant would come from Brookfield's Community Development Authority funds, which has a balance of $316,000 according to the city. It added the city wouldn't incur any debt from issuing the grant.

Ertl said that Project Wild currently has 150 employees and that the number of predicted jobs that could be created was confidential.

The city has already spent around $1.9 million developing the Northbrook Commerce Center site. That debt would be paid back through a tax increment district, according to the city.

Ertl said that the tax increment would be taxes paid on improved land value generated after the city paves streets and builds utilities in the district. He added that those taxes would pay off the $1.9 million dollar debt over the next 15 years, and paid out to the city's tax authorities afterward. The commerce center is in the fourth tax increment district.

Nothing has been built on the lot so far. The city will meet Tuesday to discuss the incentive.