Riverside Place in downtown Wausau. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau Economic Development Committee has approved an ongoing request for interest (RFI) for city-owned land on North Second Street and a development agreement for the remodeling of the Riverside Place building at 11 Scott Street.
Economic Development Director Randy Fifrick says the parcel on North 2nd presents several challenges because of its size and shape. “A lot of developers are looking for bigger projects or multiple multi-unit buildings or just a larger number of units. It’s also not small enough for some [developers], so it’s kind of a little area in between.”
The city received one proposal during an earlier RFI, but that developer withdrew his interest before a final decision was made. A second RFI came up empty a few weeks later. The current request would not have an end date, allowing the committee to take proposals indefinitely.
Fifrick hopes to have ideas for the committee later this year. He says he would like to see housing with a retail aspect along Bridge Street, which he believes would complement the neighborhood’s aesthetic.
The Committee also approved a development agreement for the Riverside Place building at 11 Scott Street, an office space that some local developers are looking to convert to housing. Fifrick says they are proposing an aggressive construction schedule that could begin later this year. “They are eager to get going. The commencement date in the agreement is this summer and they’re looking to be done by December 2027. That seems like a lot of work to get done in one year, but they’ve been eager to get going.”
Developers Marc Craig and Rolly Lokre have proposed a reworking of the four-story office building, shifting the top two floors to mid-level housing. That would add more than 50 units, mostly one and two-bedroom apartments, to the downtown inventory. The city would contribute $750,000 towards the $10 million project, a number that was negotiated down from an initial request of $1 million.
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The building currently houses some co-working spaces through Regus Offices. Fifrick says the agreement includes leased parking in the ramp across the street, which will help bring in additional parking revenue.
The parking proposal still requires approval from the city’s Infrastructure and Facilities committee before it can be presented to the full council for final approval in February.
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