The Community Development Committee met 02/12/2025. One of the items they took up was a request from the developer of the Chase Bank property on College Avenue for an amendment to the development agreement providing a 1 year extension to the completion date of the project. This amendment would be contingent on the developer dedicating the privately owned portion of the alley to the north of the building to the public.
The committee voted unanimously to recommend the extension request for approval.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
David Baehr, the owner of the Chase Bank building on College Avenue, is redeveloping it into a mixed-use building. Chase Bank will be staying in the building. They will be joined by a brew pub. Then the top two floors will be residential units.
As outlined in a letter from Mr. Baehr, they experienced “some delays with gaining access to the Chase Bank space for the necessary sprinkler, electric and plumbing work. In addition, our electrical switch gear has been delayed. We knew this would be a hurdle and ordered the gear approximately 12 months ago. The latest update is that we should receive this in March.”
The original completion deadline as set in the development agreement with the city 01/01/2025. At that point, the development agreement had required that the building be completed and have a minimum assessed value of $6 million. Mr. Baehr was requesting that that deadline be extended by a year to 01/01/2026.
City staff supported the extension request with the caveat that, as part of the extension, Mr. Baehr be required to dedicated the alleyway that was part of his property to the public. The alleyway is directly north of the building and the city wanted to have control of that to help maintain traffic flow. Mr. Baehr had agreed to this stipulation.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked why the deadline was being extended by an entire year instead of a shorter period of time.
City Economic Development Specialist Lily Paul answered that assessments were due in January, so the extended deadline was based on that. It would not make sense to extend the deadline for the middle of the year because the city did not perform assessments in the middle of the year.
The committee voted 5-0 to recommend the extension request for approval.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1256188&GUID=307B070B-A832-4C5E-8EDD-5194E86213C7
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