Renewed interest in riverfront, site of former Five Rivers project
Following a few months of relative quiet surrounding potential development along the riverfront after the sinking of the Five Rivers Resort plans, there is some renewed interest.
According to an online story on the Oshkosh Northwestern’s web site this evening, an investment group named Akcess Acquisition Group, whose president is none other than former Gov. Tommy Thompson, has – along with Cherokee Investment Partners, C.D. Smith Construction and Somerville Architects – submitted preliminary plans to the city to redevelop just over 13 acres in the Marion Road Redevelopment Area along the Fox River and Jackson Street.
The article says the group is proposing mixed-use commercial and residential developments for the area to be known as “The Waterfront.” Besides “new, attractive and affordable housing,” the plans call for the area to also be home to a full-service grocery store, shopping, eating and entertainment establishments, as well as green area for a park and plenty of parking.
The plans will be formally presented to the city’s Redevelopment Authority this Wednesday during its regularly schedule meeting at 4 p.m. at City Hall. No other details have yet been made public and it is certainly way too early to say much about this proposed project – good or bad. But it is nice to see a) more interest from other folks – though C.D. Smith had also hoped to successfully partner with Tom Doig in the Five Rivers project; (b) a concept that at first blush seems to have a little more viability and likelihood for success than Five Rivers did; and (c) a plan where the developers/partners don't seem to be asking for city-generated revenue bonds for a developer assistance grant like Doig did.
Again, it is much too soon to say for sure if this is a sound idea or not, but a grocery store and some new entertainment venues already seem to be a start in the right direction, as does affordable housing, so long as it truly is “affordable.”
Let’s hope the city and city council do plenty of due diligence on this project before we spend hundreds of man-hours and thousands of dollars on something where a developer wants to invest very little of us his own money in the project and share no information with the public.
A copy of the plan can be found by going here.
- Cheryl
According to an online story on the Oshkosh Northwestern’s web site this evening, an investment group named Akcess Acquisition Group, whose president is none other than former Gov. Tommy Thompson, has – along with Cherokee Investment Partners, C.D. Smith Construction and Somerville Architects – submitted preliminary plans to the city to redevelop just over 13 acres in the Marion Road Redevelopment Area along the Fox River and Jackson Street.
The article says the group is proposing mixed-use commercial and residential developments for the area to be known as “The Waterfront.” Besides “new, attractive and affordable housing,” the plans call for the area to also be home to a full-service grocery store, shopping, eating and entertainment establishments, as well as green area for a park and plenty of parking.
The plans will be formally presented to the city’s Redevelopment Authority this Wednesday during its regularly schedule meeting at 4 p.m. at City Hall. No other details have yet been made public and it is certainly way too early to say much about this proposed project – good or bad. But it is nice to see a) more interest from other folks – though C.D. Smith had also hoped to successfully partner with Tom Doig in the Five Rivers project; (b) a concept that at first blush seems to have a little more viability and likelihood for success than Five Rivers did; and (c) a plan where the developers/partners don't seem to be asking for city-generated revenue bonds for a developer assistance grant like Doig did.
Again, it is much too soon to say for sure if this is a sound idea or not, but a grocery store and some new entertainment venues already seem to be a start in the right direction, as does affordable housing, so long as it truly is “affordable.”
Let’s hope the city and city council do plenty of due diligence on this project before we spend hundreds of man-hours and thousands of dollars on something where a developer wants to invest very little of us his own money in the project and share no information with the public.
A copy of the plan can be found by going here.
- Cheryl
posted by Cheryl Hentz at 7:28 PM
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