Common Council Votes Unanimously To Approve Fox Commons Development Agreement For City Center Building – Project Would Include Housing For 190 Lawrence Students, 35,000 Square Foot Space For Mosaic Family Health Clinic

The Common Council met 06/07/2023. Probably the item of most interest to the public during that meeting was the request to approve a development agreement to redevelop City Center into a mixed-use facility called Fox Commons. Lawrence University, Mosaic Family Health, and Prevea Health would all utilize space within the building.

The item was unanimously recommended for approval by the Community and Economic Development Committee; however, at the time of that vote, many of the details of the development were foggy. Prior to the Common Council meeting, staff and the Fox Commons developers, drafted memos providing more details regarding the project.

The space would be divided into two condominium units. Unit 2 would be owned by Mosaic Family Health which would relocate its health clinic and residency program from its current building a couple blocks to the south. Condominium Unit 2 would be tax exempt. This tax exempt status was already calculated into the TIF incentive the developer would be receiving.

Lawrence University and Prevea Health would lease space in Condominium Unit 1. Unit 1 would be a taxable unit regardless of who leased space. Lawrence would be using their space to provide housing to 190 student, and Prevea Health would be providing physical therapy, health and wellness services, and behavioral health care.

The Common Council voted unanimously to approve the agreement.

I’ve prepared a transcription of the discussion for download.

Three members of the public spoke on the item.

Lee Vogel, the  head of Mosaic Family Health (and also a member of the Board of Health although that does not pertain to this situation) spoke on behalf of the facility. They planned to relocate from their current site on the bluff a couple blocks south and open a 35,000 square foot clinic and educational facility in City Center where they would train the next generation of family practice doctors. 

She said they served people of all socioeconomic status, and this move would be beneficial to their lower income patients by placing them within the middle if the HUD district, bringing them closer to the transit center and library, and potentially facilitating collaboration between Mosaic and Lawrence.

She understood there were some questions about how Mosaic’s tax-exempt status would impact the city but noted that the test of the Fox Commons project would be on the tax rolls and also pointed out that Mosaic would be vacating a lot on the bluff that had a significant tax roll opportunity for the city. Additionally, Mosaic had been participating on a payment I lieu of taxes program with the city since 1980 and had been in conversation about continuing that.

Appleton resident Ronna liked the idea of housing Lawrence students at City Center and getting them off campus into the real world. She did, however, wish that more information on the project would have been available to the public sooner, but understood that may not have been practical. 

John Keller (who is a member of the Library Board, although he was speaking as a private citizen) spoke in opposition to the inclusion of the Park Central building within TIF District 11, the TIF district that encompassed City Center. He felt the Park Central building’s advertisements were not diverse enough and therefore that location should be kept out of the TIF district.

Mayor Woodford explained that the formation of TIF District 11 was not an item on the agenda that evening, and the Common Council had a rule requiring public comment to only be on items on the agenda.

When the Common Council took up the item, Alderperson Denise Fenton (District 6) asked a number of questions she had received from constituents.

1. The information on the project had come out fairly recently. The Council had approved a contingent lease for the city-run dance studio to relocate to Northland Mall if this development agreement moved forward. In terms of relocating the dance studio, was there a need to move forward quickly on approving the Fox Commons development agreement?

Community and Economic Development Director Kara Homan said there was critical timing on the city’s end in terms of relocating the dance studios. There was a lot of prep work to get the new space renovated and ready for the dance program.

There was also critical timing on the developer’s end because there was a real estate transaction that needed to happen soon, and they also needed to start construction soon in order to ensure the Lawrence housing would be ready for the fall of 2024.

2. There was another healthcare  facility in addition to Mosaic Health that was a potential lessee. Would anybody else in the building have a tax-exempt status?

Director Homan was not aware of other tax-exempt entities, but there were negations still underway and it was a possibility. She noted that if a tax-exempt organization leased from the developer, the property would still be subject to property taxes.

3. What kind of options would people with mobility issues have to access the facilities and what kind of parking arrangements would be available to them?

Mayor Woodford said that those sorts of issues were a matter for the organizations and businesses in the building to determine and did not figure into the city’s approval of the development agreement. The city had, however, advised the developers and Mosaic on options and policies about reserving parking spaces in the yellow parking ramp.

4. How would security for the Lawrence housing portion of the project be handled? Would Lawrence or the Appleton Police Department be in charge of that.

Mayor Woodford said that buildings could employ their own security if they wanted to and noted that Pfefferle Management already paid for its own security for City Center.

They had not had deep discussions with the developer about that, but of course the police and fire departments would provide emergency services to the location.

5. Alderperson Brad Firkus (District 3) asked if the housing would be something that Lawrence owned and constructed or if Lawrence would be renting space owned by the developer. 

Director Homan responded that while she didn’t know the details of the agreement between the developer and Lawrence, the Lawrence housing portion would be part of Condominium Unit 1 which would be owned by the developer. It would be different than the Mosaic portion in which Mosaic would own its space.

Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15) said he had initially had a lot of questions and concerns about the development agreement. He thanks staff for answering his many questions. 

He had also been concerned that a lot of the information about the project had seemed to be missing and he didn’t want the community to have the perception they weren’t doing their due diligence. “I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the efforts that staff went through and the developers have gone through to answer all of our questions, at least the questions that I had, and making me feel comfortable with the project that the city is properly protected, and that this can be a benefit for the city and for our downtown.”

Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) echoed his comments and thanked staff and the developers for releasing the information they did.  

The Council proceeded to vote 14-0 to approve the development agreement.

View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1099773&GUID=AC686541-59D7-4CE6-882F-DF3316485CC6