Can city build on success?

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Feb 13, 2001 | by Kent, Joan

Downtown La Crosse has come a long way in the past decade, but the next two years are critical to the success of the downtown Tax Incremental Finance district, a small group of civic leaders learned Monday.

"There is no question that we run the risk of failing to make sufficient investment in key areas," Lee Rasch, chairman of the City Vision Project Management Team, said during the team's meeting on the state of the TIF at the La Crosse Center.

"People have seen a lot of improvements so they think we have turned the corner," said City Planner Larry Kirch. "There have been a lot of major success stories, but the issue of whether we have turned the corner is why we are here today."

So far, the city has spent about $25 million of the $38 million that can be spent in the downtown TIF, Kirch said. The city should have done more borrowing early and be tapering off now, he said.

The city now must decide how much of the remaining $13 million to spend and how to spend it.

"We have to sharpen our focus," Rasch said. "We need to create a sense of urgency, a positive sense of urgency ... and encourage private sector commitment. We have to bring the owners of major buildings to the table. Just spending the money isn't going to assure that (the TIF) will be paid off."

The team needs to find both long- and short-term projects that will bring tax base to help pay off the TIF by the deadline, he said. The city has until 2021 to pay off the TIF.

"Now is not the time for any of us to be shy about what we have to do," agreed John Wettstein, co-chairman of the team. "There is a lot at stake. We have to provide the right environment for those who have invested downtown."

There have been many successes downtown, Kirch said, citing several new and renovated properties including the Holiday Inn Hotel and

Suites, the La Crosse Center expansion, Children's Museum, CenturyTel branch office, EDS building, location of FirstLogic Inc. downtown and renovations of the new Wettstein's building and upstairs above Fayze's.

Counting private and public investment, he said, more than $100 million was invested downtown between 1992 and 1999.

During that period, Green Bay spent $17.6 million; Eau Claire spent $25 million, and the total Wisconsin Main Street project spent $255 million.

Properties that could be developed include the former Heileman warehouse, the former Machine Products building, Doerflinger, Wiggert building, and the gas station lot at Third and Pearl streets, Kirch said. Upstairs portions of buildings downtown also could be developed.

"We are going to have to reach out to the people who own these buildings, one on one," said La Crosse Common Council and team member Mark Johnsrud.

The challenge, Kirch said, will be to get property owners to know how much is at stake, in how the rest of the TIF money is spent in the next two years.