The Appleton Redevelopment Authority met 12/11/2024 and voted on a request to extend the purchase date deadline for the lot just north of the downtown Valley Transit Center from 12/31/2024 to 06/30/2025. The vacant lot at 222 N Oneida Street former housed the Menn Law Firm building. The city has been in a multi-year process of selling that lot to Valley Transit so that Valley Transit can expand their downtown transit center, but there have been ongoing environmental and regulatory issues that have slowed the process down.
The Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved the extension of the deadline, and the expectation was that the sale will be able to be completed prior to 06/30/2025.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
Per a memo from staff, the Federal Transit Administration needs to approve Valley Transit’s purchase of the property. One of the FTA’s requirements in order to approve the purchase is that a National Environmental Policy Act process be completed. That process is still ongoing, so the sale can’t go through at this time.
The NEPA process started in June of 2023, and they were now coming up on 18 months of it having been ongoing. Valley Transit General Manage Ron McDonald said that Valley Transit representatives had met with the Federal Transit Administration last week. The FTA was done with their portion of the review and it now had to undergo a 30-day legal review. After that, it would go back to the FTA and the FTA will issue a note saying Valley Transit can move forward with the project.
[As a side note, the implementation framework of NEPA regulations was just ruled on by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. That ruling may markedly change the way that NEPA regulations are carried out and could potentially make the NEPA process less onerous in the future. That doesn’t change anything for Valley Transit’s project, but I’m sure it makes everyone happy to know they’ve been following an 18-month process set by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, an entity which the court has now determined lacks the rulemaking authority it has long claimed it holds.]
Staff requested a 6-month extension of the deadline with the expectation that that would be long enough that they would not need to come back and ask for another extension. The completion of the purchase could happen anytime prior to 06/30/2025, and General Manager McDonald was thinking it cold be wrapped up by the end of January.
Once the purchase is completed, Valley Transit plans to build a new mixed-use transit center that will take up the entire block. The first floor will consist of an in-door transit center that buses will drive into and top floors will include housing of some sort. They are in the process of seeking a private developer to partner with on the project. The private developer would be responsible for the housing aspect of the project.
Staff was asked how the search was going for that private developer. Community Development Director Kara Homan said that the did put out a Request For Proposals and were still in negotiations at this time. They had not announced who the selected vendor was, and she could not say more than that because the process was still ongoing.
An ARA member asked if there were any concerns about having sufficient funds to complete the project, noting that the library had come in markedly over-budget.
Valley Transit General Manager Ron McDonald believed they had enough money to finish their part of the project. They had $25 million in RAISE grant dollars they had been awarded as well as an additional $1.8 million in American Recovery Plan Act funds that they had been allocated by the City of Appleton. He believed this would cover the cost of completing the first floor, the basement, and the covered bus bays.
The Appleton Redevelopment Authority voted unanimously to approve the extension.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1230582&GUID=F259E36C-E2EA-4366-815C-EFADEF6F3AE9
One thought on “Appleton Redevelopment Authority Approves 6 Month Extension To Deadline For Valley Transit To Purchase Site Of Former Menn Law Firm Building – Extension Will Allow Completion of Environmental Regulatory Process Prior To Sale”