MONEY

Packers buy Ridge Road shopping center

Richard Ryman

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

The Green Bay Packers, through its Green Bay Development entity, purchased this strip mall on South Ridge Road in August.

One new land purchase by the Green Bay Packers is in the books.

According to Brown County real estate records, Green Bay Development, a business entity created by the Packers, purchased a strip shopping center at 1924-1932 S. Ridge Road on Aug. 1 for $725,000. The land is assessed at $532,000.

Sources say the team also bought or will buy the two service stations near the intersection of South Ridge Road and Lombardi Avenue. One of the stations, Citgo, has a sign in front saying it is going out of business. Greg Buckley, who owns the Subway in the Mobil station next door, said the restaurant was closing Thursday.

Those transactions have not been filed with the Brown County Register of Deeds.

This Citgo station on South Ridge Road, across the street from Lambeau Field, has a sign saying it is closing. The Green Bay Packers may be buying the station and the nearby Mobil station. The team did acquire the strip mall immediately south of the Citgo.

Two other parcels in that area — one is the site of The Blind Ref restaurant and the other Road Star Inn — are not listed as owned by the Packers. If the team acquires all four, it will have unbroken ownership of land fronting Lombardi Avenue from South Ridge Road to Marlee Lane, a distance of about one-half mile.

The Packers have declined to confirm purchases before they appear in the public record.

The team has said it plans to develop land west of Lambeau Field to provide it with non-football sources of income, similar to what the New England Patriots did with their Patriot Place adjacent of Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.

So far, the Packers' lone development is the Cabela's outdoor sporting goods store at Lombardi Avenue and Argonne Street near the U.S. 41 interchange. The team said it is studying several concepts for development of its property, but has not released details.

Patriot Place includes restaurants, retail shops, a movie theater, a hotel and a Bass Pro Shop.

The Packers now own 53 parcels totaling 62.25 acres near Lambeau Field. The land is assessed at more than $45.4 million. Ownership shows up under five names: Green Bay Packers Inc., Lambeau Field Redevelopment, Green Bay Development LLC, 1141 Lombardi LLC and 1177 Lombardi LLC.

In addition to the land west of Lambeau, the team acquired property south of the stadium where it recently razed about a dozen houses. That land is used for grass parking, and team President Mark Murphy has said it will not be used for commercial development.

Also, the team owns land east of the stadium along Potts Avenue.

Most of the land used for football operations is owned by other entities. Green Bay and the Green Bay/Brown County Professional Football Stadium District own Lambeau Field, and the county owns much of the land that is home to the Clarke Hinkle and Ray Nitschke practice fields and the Don Hutson Center.

— rryman@greenbaypress gazette.com and follow him on Twitter @RichRymanPG or on Facebook at Richard Ryman-Press-Gazette. Contact him at (920) 431-8342.