A regional economic development representative told the Rhinelander city council Monday there's a person interested in doing a larger-size development downtown.
Jim Rosenberg of Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation describes what is planned...
"...We've had an investor who has expressed on interest in restoring a downtown building and the restoration would provide for ground floor commercial(development) and apartments on the upper floors. He's got some conceptual designs, but not drawn up yet...."
Rosenberg says plans are preliminary because the investor's architect has not been able to get to Rhinelander due to weather. But Rosenberg says it's large enough to be a major downtown factor. He says this person is an experienced investor who has done a number of projects...
"We talked among the Oneida County Economic Development Corporation, Grow North, your housing authority a little bit about this, but we think it could prove catalytic for the downtown. It would encourage other investors possibly invest with a successful project and maybe even this investor might want to do more, he's expressed that interest...."
Rosenberg says there will be some owner-financing and there's a possibility of financing through organizations that do renovation financing. He says there's the possibility of a WEDC grant and he says in that case, the city would be the applicant. He says another possibility is tax increment financing.
Municipalities typically divert future property tax revenue increases from a defined area or district toward an economic development project or public improvement project in the community. Rosenberg says the apartments would be of a higher-end rental.
He says for now, the identity of the investor and the location will be confidential until sometime in the future.
