Falls financing for DRS, Glenroy projects wins early OK

Two new Menomonee Falls industrial developments, one of them involving a company that’s moving from Milwaukee, will receive village financing help under plans that have received preliminary approval.

Leonardo DRS Inc. will move to a $56 million, 350,000-square-foot factory and engineering plant to be built on 19 acres at Woodland Prime business park, west of Flint Drive and north of Good Hope Road.

DRS, a defense contractor, now is located at 4265 N. 30th St.

Menomonee Falls will provide $6.4 million to help finance the DRS facility under a proposal approved Tuesday night by the Plan Commission.

That proposal, which also needs Village Board approval, calls for spending $2 million on a We Energies power upgrade for DRS.

The village also will spend $4.4 million through annual “development incentive” payments to DRS over 20 years.

The village cash is coming through new property tax revenue generated by the DRS facility. That building will have an assessed value of $20 million, according to the plan.

The DRS project, initially disclosed in December, includes up to $18.5 million in state income tax credits over seven years.

DRS will receive the state payments

for retaining about 450 existing jobs, creating up to 220 new jobs, making capital investments and doing training, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

The factory is expected to open in 2020.

The village also could eventually spend $5.5 million to extend Flint Drive, which ends in Woodland Prime, north across the Menomonee River to West Fond du Lac Avenue.

That would create the potential for future commercial development along that extended road, according to the plan. The Flint Drive project would be done only if there was new property tax revenue available to finance it.

The Plan Commission also approved a separate proposal to spend $4.2 million to help finance the expansion of flexible packaging manufacturer Glenroy Inc.

Glenroy in November disclosed plans to add 110,000 square feet to its plant overlooking I-41, between Megal Drive and Hillside Lane.

That project will combine two existing buildings, giving Glenroy space to hire 82 additional full-time and 14 parttime employees.

The proposal calls for the village to provide $3.1 million in development incentive payments to Glenroy. Another $1.1 million would be spent on nearby road improvements.

The Glenroy expansion, to be built in 2019, will have an assessed value of $7.3 million.

Future additions, projected to happen in 2025, could total another $4.8 million of new property value, according to the village proposal.