Milwaukee produce distributor V. Marchese expanding its Walker's Point building

A company in Milwaukee's Walker's Point neighborhood that distributes produce and dairy products to restaurants and other customers is planning to expand, adding 50 to 75 jobs.

V. Marchese Produce Inc., located in the Florida Yards Industrial Park, wants to build an addition to its 80,000-square-foot processing and distribution center. 

The business is at 600 S. Jake Marchese Way, just north of East National Avenue and about one block west of South Water Street.

A company affiliate bought a neighboring former horse stable, at 328 E. National Ave., in 2016 from Milwaukee Coach & Carriage LLC for $425,000, according to state real estate records.

That building is to be demolished.

V. Marchese then plans to expand west to its parking lot and that former stable site, said Josh Weber, chief financial officer.

But that work cannot occur until an inactive railroad track between the V. Marchese building and the former stable property is removed, he said.

The company is working with Union Pacific Corp. to make that happen, Weber said, and is eager to begin the project.

"We're doing really well right now," he said at Thursday's Redevelopment Authority board meeting. "We're just bursting at the seams."

The company has 276 employees, Weber said.

V. Marchese also is buying a Florida Yards parcel from the Redevelopment Authority. The company would pay $1 for the cone-shaped lot south of East National Avenue.

It plans to spend $700,000 to $800,000 to create a parking lot, according to the Department of City Development.

The project would include a pedestrian bridge spanning East National Avenue that would connect the parking lot to V. Marchese's expanded building, a department report said.

Florida Yards is within the Harbor District, a new redevelopment area bordered roughly by South 1st Street, the lakefront, the Milwaukee River and Bay Street/Becher Street.

The district's water and land use plan, approved in February, envisions adding housing, offices and other new uses while still accommodating light industrial businesses such as V. Marchese.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.