The City of West Bend in Wisconsin has officially closed on the first purchase of land within its new 216-acre industrial park, West Bend Manufacturing Center, with the sale of 22 acres to Schwer, Pflicht & Werkzeug Properties LLC, on behalf of Milwaukee Tool. The property is located in Tax Incremental District (TID) 14 along River Road (north of County Highway NN).

Milwaukee Tool purchased the site for $1 with the agreement to build a new 94,700-square-foot manufacturing facility, to be valued at a minimum of $10 million. The facility will manufacture new-to-market hand tools for professional electricians and utility linemen. Milwaukee Tool will create 50 full-time jobs in West Bend within three years and is projected to provide up to 100 jobs by 2025.

“We are proud to welcome Milwaukee Tool to West Bend,” said City of West Bend Administrator Jay Shambeau. “Milwaukee Tool’s investment is bringing high-value employment opportunities and will attract additional industrial development.”

The City of West Bend plans to begin site construction as soon as early June. It will contract for the extension of gas, electric, water and sanitary services to the property. The city will provide rough grading, stormwater management facilities and other public improvements for the development. A new road—Forge Lane—will be constructed in 2020.

Milwaukee Tool will break ground as early as August 2020. The first phase of construction will include the 94,700-square-foot building that can be expanded to 185,000 square feet in the future. Milwaukee Tool has the first right of refusal to purchase an additional 20 acres for future expansion.

The City of West Bend Plan Commission reviewed the Milwaukee Tool site plan on Tuesday, June 2 at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers.