Growing Power's urban farm is in foreclosure
Sarah Hauer
The State Bank of Chilton is foreclosing on Growing Power Inc.'s urban farm on Silver Spring Drive in Milwaukee.
The bank filed for foreclosure of the now-defunct urban agriculture nonprofit's headquarters at 5500 W. Silver Spring Drive on Thursday.
According to the filing, Growing Power took out a $250,000 mortgage with the bank that required a $3,500 monthly payment. As of Sept. 19, Growing Power still owed $200,469.
The organization filed to dissolve Growing Power and protect its name in November. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported Nov. 20 that Growing Power founder Will Allen was retiring and the organization faced hundreds of thousands of dollars in pending legal judgments.
Allen said Sunday he would make a statement about Growing Power after Jan. 1.
The filing said Growing Power is not "functioning in anyway whatsoever" at the Silver Spring Drive location. For that reason, the filing stated, "there is concern that the remains of animals and other tangible properties make the premises unsafe or unsanitary and it is in imminent danger of becoming unsafe and unsanitary."
Growing Power granted the State Bank of Chilton the property in its offices in Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago as collateral. The State Bank of Chilton included Growing Power's other creditors on the filing, including Penske Truck Leasing Company and the state Department of Workforce Development.
The State Bank of Chilton requested a judgment of foreclosure and sale of the property.
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Allen bought the property in 1993 and founded the nonprofit in 1995. He was awarded a "Genuis" grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2008.
Tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service from 2012 through 2015, the most recent year available, show the nonprofit ran a deficit each year. In some years, Growing Power operated deficits in excess of $2 million.
Sarah Hauer can be reached at shauer@journalsentinel.com or on Twitter and Instagram.