APPLETON, Wis. — An Iowa company is struggling to meet the terms of development agreements with several Fox Valley cities. WHBY’s Jonathan Krause has the latest………..
Merge Urban Development has agreements to build high-density housing projects in downtown Appleton, Oshkosh and Green Bay but continues to ask for extensions to get that work done.
In Green Bay, the company is yet to even start work on the riverfront Shipyard project, five years after signing the development agreement.
That has Mayor Eric Genrich questioning whether any work will get done.
“I don’t think there’s a better site in the city of Green Bay that’s as ready for construction as this one that you have, and we just want to make sure that we have a partner with us who’s really serious about moving forward because it’s a priority area for us in the city, the Shipyard,” Genrich said.
Merge Managing Partner Brent Dahlstrom says the company is backlogged with delays on other projects.
“If I was you, I would want to ask the question, ‘Are you developing?’ or ‘Are you not actively developing?’ We are. We are many projects under construction. A couple of them have been severely delayed, which has impacted our ability to start another one, but we currently have seven proactive projects in construction. Yours is of the utmost important and is next,” Dahlstrom said.
The Green Bay Redevelopment Authority is giving Merge until June to start construction on the The Shipyard or risk having the city buyback the property.
Meanwhile in Oshkosh, Merge has decided not to construct a third apartment building in the Marion Road redevelopment area, which Community Development Director Sara Rutkowski says will cost the company a portion of its tax incremental financing.
“Because they didn’t build building 3 within their timeframe and didn’t ask for an extension from Council, the increment that we’re giving them for building 1 and 2 is being reduced, and that’s pretty much all that we can do,” Rutkowski said.
In Appleton, Merge says it will begin construction on the second phase of URBANE 115 on the site of the former Blue Lot parking ramp this year, more than four years after signing that development agreement.
