Concerns include inadequate business plan, logistics
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
After meeting behind closed doors, Whitewater’s top decision-making body has nixed a planned mixed-use development on a dormant 10.8-acre parcel of land near the intersection of Milwaukee Street and Bluff Road.
In mid-December, representatives of Chicago-based senior living development company MHDC first came before city officials with a grandiose 217,400-square-foot development that intermingled three disparate concepts — a hotel, sports complex and a senior living facility — on one site.
But after combing through some of the finite details at a meeting Feb. 18, the Common Council had reservations about the plan, which was proposed for city-owned land and falls within one of the active tax-incremental financing (TIF) districts.
The city’s Community Development Authority (CDA) has been reviewing the project details with MHDC representatives Rick Ehlert and Greg Stec in recent months. In January, the CDA voted against the plans, and the Common Council last week followed the appointed group’s recommendation.
Council member Stephanie Goettl, who has a seat on the CDA, laid out some of the reasons for the concerns, which included what she and other city officials believed was an inadequate business plan and lack of financial details.
“We believe the recommendation of the CDA was made in good faith and on good principles,” Goettl said, speaking from the perspective as a member of the Common Council.
Other concerns about the proposed development had to do with logistics. In their initial review in December, several CDA members noted the senior housing and hotel components, in particular, could be a dicey proposition since several manufacturing facilities are nearby and could result in noise concerns.
Despite an unfavorable recommendation from the CDA, Ehlert and Stec gave the council a pitch on their project, attempting to woo the elected body over, before the vote was taken, with the rationale behind each component of the proposal.
While Whitewater already has lodging accommodations, Ehlert and Stec said they do not view them as viable, particularly when the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater enters the equation. Representatives of the state university frequently bring in guests and applicants to the community, and overnight accommodations are sometimes necessary.
The developers also attempted to tie together what would seem two polar opposites — senior housing and a sports complex — by asserting seniors could use the indoor recreational facility for exercise.
Ehlert and Stec in their presentation asserted the development could have brought $2 million in economic activity to the city.
Before fleshing out any of the project details, Ehlert and Stec said they held several focus group meetings with a number of groups within the city. They said data gleaned from the meetings revealed the city could benefit from an additional hotel, more senior housing accommodations and an indoor sports complex.
The council’s decision to deny the plans last week was done on a 6-0 vote. Council member Lynn Binnie abstained from voting.
