Port oil tank site redeveloped with business barns

The site of the former Murphy Oil Co. tank farm that has sat vacant on South Park Street in Port Washington since the early 1980s will soon be home to a commercial barn-condo development.

“I’m really excited to see these buildings going up. It’s been a lot of work to get to this point,” Park Street Business Barns co-owner Nick Suddendorf said.

Suddendorf and his business partners Brad Williams and Nick Meier bought the nearly six acres of land on the city’s south side last year and are building 25 business barns that are intended for a mix of businesses and personal uses, such as storage for hobbyists.

“I would like to see some people run woodworking shops and auto body shops out here. I would also like to see people store their boats and cars here,” Suddendorf said. “The zoning here allows for actual businesses and personal storage.”

The units range in size from 2,000 to 5,000 square feet and cost between $129,000 to $269,000. Suddendorf said five barns have already been sold.

“I hope people build them out and add to them, not just to store their cars and boats, but to work on them as well,” he said, noting all the units are more than 50-feet deep to accommodate large boats and vehicles.

Owners will be part of a condo association and each business barn will have its own Park Street address, not a unit number.

“Your barn will have its own identity and because it’s part of the condo association tedious shop issues like mowing the lawn or plowing the driveway will be taken care of,” Suddendorf said.

Each unit comes with natural gas, electricity and city sewer and water access, Suddendorf said.

“Sewer and water isn’t available in a lot of the storage condos around Port,” he said. “Because of that, these units are more than just storage condos.”

Williams and Suddendorf have owned Fine Line Carpentry in Port for nearly 20 years and were seeking land to build a shop for personal projects. When they came across the former Murphy Oil fuel storage and distribution center, Meier suggested they use the land to construct business barns.

Developing the land posed some challenges, Suddendorf said, because the soil was considered contaminated by the Department of Natural Resources, which is why the property sat vacant for about four decades.

“They had some leaks and contamination issues. No one was interested until we came across it,” Suddendorf said, noting they couldn’t remove the soil and had to have it capped with fill.

The DNR had also delineated wetlands where depressions from the storage tanks held water. Suddendorf said they were able to get an exemption because the depressions were manmade. 

“There were a lot of minor obstacles, but we were able to overcome them,” Suddendorf said. 

Although Suddendorf and Williams own a construction company, they are using Mazomanie-based Wick Buildings, which specializes in building barns, for the project. 

“Their buildings are stick frame as opposed to a pole barn, which makes it really easy so a buyer who wants to come in and build them out can insulate or drywall them,” Suddendorf said. 

Suddendorf said the first phase of the project will be completed by next spring, and depending on sales, he hopes to have all 25 units complete in a couple of years.

“We learned a lot during this process and we’re happy to be giving some new life to this site,” he said. “We’ve heard from a number of people that they are excited to see this land be redeveloped.”