The chamber building - to buy or not to buy
For the last few weeks there’s been a renewed push by the local Chamber of Commerce and waterfront developer Tim Rikkers for the City of Oshkosh to buy the building currently occupied by the Chamber. The asking price is said to be in the $550,000 range, based on a previous appraisal of the building, which put its worth at $500,000, and an additional $50,000 as an inflationary adjustment. If its building gets purchased, the Chamber would then move into the new, upscale office building Rikkers is proposing along the waterfront.
Rikkers maintains an “if you build it, they will come” mindset. He and the Chamber folk say the Chamber moving in will jumpstart activity for new tenants to come out of the woodwork and express interest in making the office space their new home. To help demonstrate this, we’ve seen a law firm with extensive ties to the Chamber - Davis and Kuelthau – say in the last week that they will lease office space from the Chamber in the new office building. Here’s the rub: The Chamber says it will move into the new office building ONLY if the city buys its existing building. Sounds like modern day blackmail to me. What about you? To add insult to injury, part of the money for this purchase – about $100,000 – would come from tax incremental financing (TIF) funds already earmarked for street improvements and related costs.
This is a good deal, say some, and just what we need to get things going along the river; I have my doubts. As you may know, I have been a cheerleader for the Rikkers project in the past and would still like it to be successful. But like so many others in the last year, I’ve had my hopes in this project dashed and am now having some doubt about this particular piece of the project, mainly because of the developer’s failure to deliver what they promised. They seem to be holding the “build it and they will come” carrot in front of our noses just like our planning department continues to hold the TIF money carrot in front of developers’ noses.
A TIF can be an excellent development tool, when used appropriately and as a last resort, like state law requires them to be. They should not be the only thing a community uses to entice and spur development. That’s a lesson the City of Oshkosh has never quite learned. I don’t even know if it was in school the day that lesson was taught.
Would the Chamber building purchase be the catalyst this project needs to not only get going, but be successful? Since the council nixed the Chamber purchase last summer by a vote of 7-0 the Chamber has not been very successful in securing interest in this property. The disclosure of one name who would rent space from them in this complex does not instill confidence in their ability to rally business around them, nor does it ensure this complex will be any less a failure than it efforts to get it off the ground have been so far. Granted, none of us knows for sure what, if anything, will make this project successful, but there are many questions that need answers and concerns which need to be addressed. Those questions and concerns have been outlined by citizens, bloggers and the Oshkosh Northwestern’s editorial board several times in the last couple of weeks. Some of us were asking them even before that. They’ve also been asked by some of our common council members. Tonight, before any approval is given to purchase this building and start the next phase of this project, even before any tweaking is done to the current resolution before the council, it’s time those with their hands out for public assistance deliver some honest, complete and realistic answers to the community at large, especially now that we’re being asked to foot a part of the bill for this project.
Rikkers maintains an “if you build it, they will come” mindset. He and the Chamber folk say the Chamber moving in will jumpstart activity for new tenants to come out of the woodwork and express interest in making the office space their new home. To help demonstrate this, we’ve seen a law firm with extensive ties to the Chamber - Davis and Kuelthau – say in the last week that they will lease office space from the Chamber in the new office building. Here’s the rub: The Chamber says it will move into the new office building ONLY if the city buys its existing building. Sounds like modern day blackmail to me. What about you? To add insult to injury, part of the money for this purchase – about $100,000 – would come from tax incremental financing (TIF) funds already earmarked for street improvements and related costs.
This is a good deal, say some, and just what we need to get things going along the river; I have my doubts. As you may know, I have been a cheerleader for the Rikkers project in the past and would still like it to be successful. But like so many others in the last year, I’ve had my hopes in this project dashed and am now having some doubt about this particular piece of the project, mainly because of the developer’s failure to deliver what they promised. They seem to be holding the “build it and they will come” carrot in front of our noses just like our planning department continues to hold the TIF money carrot in front of developers’ noses.
A TIF can be an excellent development tool, when used appropriately and as a last resort, like state law requires them to be. They should not be the only thing a community uses to entice and spur development. That’s a lesson the City of Oshkosh has never quite learned. I don’t even know if it was in school the day that lesson was taught.
Would the Chamber building purchase be the catalyst this project needs to not only get going, but be successful? Since the council nixed the Chamber purchase last summer by a vote of 7-0 the Chamber has not been very successful in securing interest in this property. The disclosure of one name who would rent space from them in this complex does not instill confidence in their ability to rally business around them, nor does it ensure this complex will be any less a failure than it efforts to get it off the ground have been so far. Granted, none of us knows for sure what, if anything, will make this project successful, but there are many questions that need answers and concerns which need to be addressed. Those questions and concerns have been outlined by citizens, bloggers and the Oshkosh Northwestern’s editorial board several times in the last couple of weeks. Some of us were asking them even before that. They’ve also been asked by some of our common council members. Tonight, before any approval is given to purchase this building and start the next phase of this project, even before any tweaking is done to the current resolution before the council, it’s time those with their hands out for public assistance deliver some honest, complete and realistic answers to the community at large, especially now that we’re being asked to foot a part of the bill for this project.
posted by Cheryl Hentz at 8:43 AM
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