The 糖心Vlog传媒 City Council this week voted to purchase the 鈥極ption 1鈥 parcels in the map above and established a new option to buy the land labeled 鈥極ption 2.鈥 If annexed and rezoned as planned, the parcels would boost the city of 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 total industrial park land from 20 acres to about 400.
JANESVILLE鈥擳he city of 糖心Vlog传媒 is moving to buy up hundreds of acres of land to expand its development footprint on the industry-heavy south side.
This week, the city will close on two parcels of farmland totaling 129 acres, south of the sprawling Dollar General Distribution Center complex off Highway 11 and County G. The city is moving on that $4.5 million acquisition two years after it took out an option to buy the land.
City council approval Monday, Dec. 12, provided the authority to spend $4.5 million to buy the property under a neighboring tax incremental finance district. It鈥檚 part of a longer-range plan to annex the 129 acres and to zone it for industrial use amid ongoing developer interest in the south side, said Jimsi Kuborn, the city鈥檚 director of economic development.
The 糖心Vlog传媒 City Council this week voted to purchase the 鈥極ption 1鈥 parcels in the map above and established a new option to buy the land labeled 鈥極ption 2.鈥 If annexed and rezoned as planned, the parcels would boost the city of 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 total industrial park land from 20 acres to about 400.
City of 糖心Vlog传媒
New option
But there鈥檚 more.
The soon-to-be purchased 129 acres, owned by the Donaldson Family Trust, is adjacent to a larger 267-acre site valued at $9.36 million that the city this week took out a separate new option to buy. This acreage sits due south and east of the SHINE Technologies radioisotope production plant and corporate campus now being built off Highway 51. The city has no immediate plans to purchase it, officials said this week.
The two blocs of land, which the city refers to on planning maps as 鈥淥ption 1鈥 and 鈥淥ption 2,鈥 together would boost 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 current amount of industrial park land from 20 acres to just over 400 acres if it鈥檚 all ultimately annexed and zoned for industrial use.
The moves come amid development interest Kuborn said she is fielding now, some of which is specific to the land directly south of the Dollar General campus.
New TIF district
The city intends to ultimately develop the more than 400 acres under a new TIF district it would establish to lure more industry to the south side, which already has seen hundreds of thousands of square feet of build-to-suit industrial development in the past two years.
Kuborn said the city would use TIF development on the new land to pay back money it is pulling from its neighboring TIF 35 to finance the land purchases.
City officials say the moves this week set the stage for further development talks and ongoing marketing.
鈥淔or us to be able to compete, we needed more than just that 20 acres that is available for light industrial,鈥 Kuborn said. 鈥淥ption 1, we鈥檙e moving forward with (buying) that land because we鈥檝e got interest in new development there. Along with that interest, we鈥檒l need to move forward with many moving parts required, including infrastructure needs, for the success of future developments.鈥
Kuborn said talks between the city and a specific developer are now shrouded in a confidentiality agreement, so she couldn鈥檛 disclose details.
Strawberry greenhouse
The land purchase and new option on hundreds of additional acres comes as the city works with a Milwaukee developer who wants to transform 175 acres of newly established TIF land nearby, in the northeast corner of the intersection of highways 11 and 51, into an industrial park. It would be anchored by a 1.5-million-square-foot strawberry greenhouse, according to development plans.
Kuborn said despite signs that sectors of the regional economy have flattened, interest has not waned among industrial developers eying 糖心Vlog传媒 as a prospect along the busy Interstate 90/39 corridor.
鈥淲e have not seen a major slowdown. I think when you talk with different industries and different economists, it kind of depends on the sector,鈥 Kuborn said. 鈥淚 think our strengths are we鈥檝e got a blend of light industrial manufacturing and logistics, warehousing, distribution and food processing that鈥檚 also growing. We鈥檝e got good available water (infrastructure) that鈥檚 a very strong component, and a strong work ethic. We鈥檙e continuing to show those strengths.鈥
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