Downtown property sold for commercial development project

La Crosse Tribune, Oct 01, 2004 by Cahalan, Steve

The First Supply riverfront property at, 106 Cameron Ave. in downtown La Crosse is being sold to make way for a new condominium and commercial development.

The commercial development could be offices or a hotel, Onalaska developer Jon Sopher said Thursday. Sopher and asyet-undisclosed partners are still putting together plans for the property.

"It really will be a mixed-use development," Sopher said, including condominiums and some type of commercial development.

"It is so fresh," Sopher said. "We are still putting our preliminary plans together.''

He did not have additional details to announce Thursday.

First Supply's two buildings will be demolished to make way for the project.

First Supply President Joe Poehling said Thursday his company has agreed to sell its downtown location to Intrust Development LLC for an undisclosed price. Sopher owns Intrust.

"We are going to stay on the site until Dec. 31, 2005," Poehling said. "We have until January 2006 to relocate" somewhere in the La Crosse area.

First Supply, founded in La Crosse in 1897, is a familyowned wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating, cooling, municipal, waterworks, fluid handling, builder and industrial supplies in the upper Midwest. It sells to industrial customers and to contractors, and has annual sales of about $200 million.

The company has 14 distribution locations in the Midwest. Its LaCrosse location always has been downtown. Its current headquarters, warehouse and showroom have been at 106 Cameron Ave., just south of the Cass Street bridge, since 1970.

Poehling said his company has more than 500 employees, including 'about 100 in La Crosse. Poehling said First Supply probably will buy land and construct a new building, he said. "We started looking at properties today," he said.

First Supply was approached by Intrust, Poehling said. "We were not marketing (the property) at the time," he said. "This seemed to be a win-win for all the parties, including the city. We'll get a more modern, efficient facility."

Mayor John Medinger said Sopher and Poehling met with him a few days ago to "give us a heads up" on what is happening.

"It's good news all the way around," Medinger said. "We have a very successful business that's going to move, but stay in the city and grow. And we'll have a reuse of that property that is very compatible with the direction in which we're trying to take downtown.

"It's nice waterfront property with tremendous potential," the mayor said. "It's hard to find (available) waterfront property that's right on the edge of the downtown.

"They've been a little crowded down there," Medinger said of First Supply. "They're doing a great business, and they've had tremendous growth."

The city's International Business Park is one possible new location for First Supply, Medinger said. The business park is near Woodman's Food Market and includes businesses such as Stansfield Vending.