New Investments Boost Port Milwaukee

Port Milwaukee announced on August 6 the approval by the Board of Harbor Commissioners of two new long-term leases, with grain company The DeLong Company and energy and infrastructure contractor Michels Corporation, that will significantly boost activity at the port.

The DeLong Company project is one of the largest investments ever made at Port Milwaukee. The company plans a new maritime export facility that will handle agricultural commodities, including dried distillers’ grains (DDGs). The company is pairing its own $6.2 million investment at the port with previously announced federal and state grants for a total capital investment of more than $30 million. The DeLong facility will be built on Jones Island on 3.9 acres along the inner harbor. The terms of the 30-year lease include annual rent payments of approximately $30,000 per acre.

Michels Corporation is finalizing terms on a 99-year lease for expanded Milwaukee operations, including new jobs, on 13.5 acres at the Port’s Grand Trunk site. The company already leases a smaller portion of the site, and this new agreement includes rent of approximately $17,800 per acre annually.

Michels’ new lease follows a competitive request-for-proposals process, and the lease increases its Milwaukee footprint, which already includes the R1ver campus under development a short distance up the Kinnickinnic River. After acceptance by the commissioners, the leases will be considered by the Milwaukee Common Council for approval. Jeff Fleming, a spokesman for the port, said “prospects are good” for approval by the Common Council.