Belle City Square Partners, LLC – Commercial Phase 1

Belle City Square Partners renovation

By Emily Blaylock
President & Founder, Untamed Equity

Renovating historic buildings into creative spaces is the crux of the Belle City Square Partners project in Racine, WI. Four historic buildings totaling over 119,000 square feet will now be The Depot, The Machine Shop, The Bottle House, and The Annex. The project is part of the larger redevelopment of the previous Horlick Malted Milk Company.

The Depot will house a small retail shop, while The Machine Shop will be typical office space. The Bottle House and The Annex will both contain maker space – a new trend in utilizing spaces. Maker space allows for collaboration for making, learning, and exploring DIY activities with minimal tech tools. The Bottle House will have 14,000 square feet of maker space with the rest being industrial space. The Annex will be all maker space.

This project required all sorts of creativity with financing tools including new market tax credit allocations, historic tax credits, municipal grants, and tax increment incentives. Well worth the effort to turn this historic space into such innovative space for the community.

Emily Blaylock started Untamed Equity in 2022 after spending over 15 years in banking with a focus on Commercial Lending. Her most recent role was Chief Loan Officer for Northwest Bank & Trust Company in Davenport, IA. Emily earned her MBA at Indiana University. She lives in the Quad Cities with her husband and two children where she continues to cheer on the Hoosiers.