Newsmakers, May 24, 2018

Air Date:
Heard On Newsmakers
Jason Gilman and Andrea Schnick
Jason Gilman and Andrea Schnick Hope Kirwan/WPR

The City of La Crosse chose a Milwaukee firm to be the master developer of a unique land redevelopment almost 25 years in the making.

The city started buying land for the Riverside North development on the northern edge of its historic downtown in 1995.

About half of the 65-acres is former industrial land the city had to remediate and raise out of the floodplain. The other half is wetlands that will enhance recreational trails that already exist. The land sits near the confluence of the Mississippi, Black and La Crosse Rivers.

“It’s a fairly remarkable circumstance to find a parcel of this size in a downtown environment,” said Blair Williams, president of WiRED Properties, the company chosen to manage the development. “The natural resource component of this kind of takes it to a whole different level. It gives us the opportunity to shoot big, we can really create a new neighborhood here.”

Williams said the project has the potential to generate from $100-$200 million in new property value.

A variety of uses have been imagined for the property in the last two decades — from a new festival grounds to a proposed casino. A public planning process done five years ago established the current vision for the property, a mix of housing, retail, office space and recreational trails.

“We want to have this be a place where people are living, but then also an area that other people outside of this neighborhood and the entire community will be coming there,” said Andrea Schnick, the economic development planner for the City of La Crosse. “Whether they’re coming there to work during the day, or whether there’s a new restaurant, or something that’s really attracting them.”

The city’s Redevelopment Authority will play an active role in approving future contracts with developers.

“We will use 2018 to attract the investors and start to create the first phase of the project,” said Jason Gilman, planning and development director for the City of La Crosse. “If things go well, we’ll be working on infrastructure in 2019 and then potential development that is private investment in 2020.”

– John Davis

Episode Credits

  • Hope Kirwan Host
  • John Davis Producer
  • Jason Gilman Guest
  • Andrea Schnick Guest
  • Blair Williams Guest