Green Bay Packers Join NFL Blitz Into Real Estate Development
- Sports teams turn property barons in search of new revenue
- Packers see rental units drawing millennials to Titletown
Aaron Ripkowski #22 of the Green Bay Packers celebrates with fans after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter during the NFC Wild Card game against the New York Giants at Lambeau Field on Jan. 8, 2017 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Photographer: Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Mark Murphy watched his Packers defeat the Buffalo Bills at Green Bay on Sunday, then by Monday the team’s top executive was turning from helmets to hardhats, getting ready to unveil the next piece of the team’s real estate project next door.
The Packers plan to build more than 200 homes, with as many as 150 rentals and 90 for sale, a block from legendary Lambeau Field. The homes are the second phase of a mixed-use project called Titletown that already features a hotel managed by Kohler Co., a brewpub, a sports medicine center and a tech innovation lab that’s a joint venture with Microsoft Corp. The project will give a boost to the local economy, the smallest in U.S. professional sports, and the team’s bottom line, while giving millennials new places to live and work -- and root for the team.