BAY LOFTS OPEN DOORS MAY 1. Sturgeon Bay’s Madison Street has new energy thanks to a redevelopment project that has added luxury apartments with an urban feel. The new Bay Lofts occupy what was formerly the Harbor Place Shoppes, and house 37 apartments that are leasing quickly. Developer Chris Laurent of Urban Apex is the Madison-based real estate development business that built The Bay Lofts. “I’m proud of Bay Lofts,” he said. “I think we’ve accomplished the city’s goals.”
Laurent said he had a great experience working with Sturgeon Bay officials and looks forward to working with them again in the future. “I think, as your business strategy just in my own career, it’s always easiest to go where folks want you and you have common objectives,” he said. “The council’s been great to work with, the staff’s been great to work with, and the mayor’s been great to work with. When you have that sort of alignment, you can make decent things happen and have good, honest conversations of what the objectives are. The city worked with the planner Vandewalle & Associates; and Brian (Vandewalle, founder and president) and I have worked together 15, 20 years. We shared a lot of similar objectives. We’ve really done our best work in inner cities, in catalyzing downtowns. This area in the west waterfront district is an area the city has focused on through planning. Obviously the hotel has had a storied history. We like to be a part of that renaissance. We did that to some extent in Middleton.”
The first floor of the new development also houses the new location of the Bay Shore Outfitter, the second store for Sister Bay retailer selling and renting paddle craft and bike rentals. The new Bay Shore Outfitter location opens in early May, ready to serve Sturgeon Bay visitors and residents headed to the nearby Ahnapee Trail, historic Sturgeon Bay and Potawatomi State Park. Read the Door County Pulse article here.
