Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/518838
36 | I NSIGH T • J u n e 2 0 15 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m I N S I G H T O N E C O N O M I C D E V E L O P M E N T B y S e a n P. J o h n s o n D owntown is the new hotspot, and right now there is no place hotter than downtown Menasha. Aer several years of relative quiet in terms of major economic development projects, downtown Menasha may soon boast a signature development that could bring hundreds of workers back to the downtown, fueling demand for other retail and service businesses. Menasha Downtown Development Corp., a group of local investors, has Menasha on the move Downtown development in the Fox Cities heats up proposed building an eight-story, 115,000-square-foot office tower in Menasha at Main and Mill streets, on the site where the former Menasha Hotel and First National Bank buildings once stood. Once constructed, the proposed $12.6 million project will become part of the new headquarters complex of Faith Technologies, bringing more than 300 employees to the downtown area, with a corresponding boost of nearly $18 million in wages. "If you get people working downtown, then there will be demand for the restaurants, shops and other services," says John Hogerty, executive vice president and general counsel for Bergstrom Corp. and one of the investors. "We looked at Menasha and saw a lot of empty buildings and shops and thought 'if we could put together a large development, we could create a signature building for Menasha.'" ose investors have a track record to back up their enthusiasm. Many of the investors involved in Menasha Downtown Development were also involved in a similar project that sparked development in downtown Neenah in the 1990s. e group developed what is now known as the Neenah Towers, a three-office tower complex in downtown Neenah. Not only did that development bring hundreds of new employees to downtown Neenah, it was the catalyst for a downtown renaissance that encouraged Plexus, Alta Resources and others to build new facilities there. Appleton enjoyed a similar boom with the construction of the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, which made C O U R T E S Y O F T H E C I T Y O F M E N A S H A An artist's rendering of the eight-story office tower proposed by Menasha Downtown Development that will bring more than 300 people to downtown Menasha.