001Heat. Heat. Heat. microphones. It seems redundant in a small group, but it does help all of us here. So, okay. Um, why don't we just kick jump right into it? So, >> yeah. So, thank you so much for and Brian Frakuda and his team for being here. Uh, Brian came last um meeting and kind of presented the timeline and what we're looking for. And here is uh the start of some more intimate work. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh thanks thanks again for uh having having me back allowing me to bring some of my friends. um when you invite planners to a workshop um you get maps and markers. And so that's what we we have uh here today as part of this um to really just start to dive in and gather your input on
002uh the potential reuse of these three sites. And so um I'm going to uh I guess I'll I'll introduce my my colleagues here um and maybe just ask you guys to to to stand. they'll they'll kind of just be helping facilitate uh the workshop as we get into more of the the maps and and activities and things. Um but uh I have Bria Grace um who is uh a planner um with uh SE um out of our lacrosse office here. Um and then Jeremy Tomish um who is an engineer uh with as well um the the husband of a school district employee um and uh and father of a couple of school district uh kids and um I think one graduate congrats. >> I was going to say so but both both were here in
003this building. Actually all three were here in this building. So >> Oh yes. Um but uh again, we're just excited to to be a part of this process uh to help think about the reuse of these elementary school sites. Um and so we're going to start with um a couple of our first deliverables. I hinted at them last uh last or a couple weeks ago. Um that we do have an existing conditions report and a market analysis that um are are close. They're in draft format. We'll hopefully get those out to you um in uh in complete format. um within the next week or so. Um but I'm going to just share some highlights because it'll help kind of set the stage for uh the the workshop here tonight as we really start to dive
004into what are these realistic and acceptable uses for for the district of these sites as we we look to to uh look at options for reuse. So the existing conditions report um is really just an overview of kind of how this how the sites exist today. So, um, looking at Emerson, um, you know, the the location, it's, uh, 57,600 square ft. Um, sits on, uh, just just about, uh, 2.63 acres. There's 72 parking stalls. It was built in, uh, 1939. Um, has adjacencies to W Lacrosse campus, ordered by um, residential and and the Hetsel Fieldhouse. Um, there's a playground. The playground there is actually on city-owned Crowley Park. Um, and that parcel is 1.36 acres, but is not, uh, controlled by the school district. Um, looking at Spence, uh, over on Bennett Street, um, 60,190
005ft on 7.87 acres with 75 parking stalls. The school was built in 1950s has adjacencies to Ericson Park and Pool um bordered by uh residential to the north and east and train company or train technologies operations to the west. Uh Hinchen is uh uh on 28th Street South um 60,263 ft. Uh sits on over 8 acres. Um has 62 parking stalls. Was built in the late60s. um has commercial district to the west, residential to the north and south, churches nearby, uh a rail line immediately to the east. Um and and this is the largest site with the most modern construction building. Um some common car characteristics of all three are um that they are owned by the school district. They're zoned public and semi-public district and are fully served by municipal infrastructure and utilities that
006that should serve uh uh reuse uh options as well. Um existing building conditions um as as we looked at it, there's really pretty limited potential for reuse. Um just giving some of the given some of the design elements. Um uh just some of the the market aspects to to the sites that um you know if if you're going to look for office space in this market um you're probably not looking in these neighborhoods. Um unless there's a real specific uh need for for an office with an adjacent use or something like that where the the location would have some uh strategic benefit to it. Um but uh so so generally uh the buildings are in in decent shape but not great shape. Would require some some investment, would require some remodeling, would require you know
007I think a fairly significant investment to reuse the site uh the the structures. And so most in in most cases you're probably talking uh about about demolition and and redevelopment of the sites um being kind of the highest and best use. Um but we we don't want to to to remove that, you know, reuse from the table. And so we want to spend a little bit of time here tonight um brainstorming on some of those things and and thinking about how you could engage with partners or or other organizations that might be able to reuse those facilities for something. So we'll we'll look at that a little bit tonight. Um zoning and planning. Um zoning, as I said, they're all zoned public, semi-public. Um and uh uh that that zoning category likely isn't going to
008to accommodate most reuses. So you're probably looking at resoning. Um uh the note is that uh the current the city is currently working on a a zoning code update. Actually a complete overhaul of their zoning code. Uh the chamber had a lunch uh event today that that uh I learned a lot more about that and uh seems like it's it's moving to more of a form-based use, a little bit more flexibility um which again will I think play well uh for redevelopment of these sites. Um from a comprehensive plan guidance, um the city of Lacrosse 20 240 comprehensive plan recognized schools as assets within these neighborhoods. Um but but also emphasizes emphasized that uh should the schools um not be needed by the district um that uh they they would emphasize maintaining the space as
009an asset to the community um whether the existing school uh whether the existing school building is included or not. Um it there's there's neighborhood priorities for each of the neighborhoods within the comprehensive plan. So Emerson emphas emphasizes single family residential limited campus growth. Um there there's a a desire for neighborhood grocery. Um Spence had uh facil would facilitate public access to Eric Ericson Pool and regional draws and Hinchin's uh neighborhood priorities focused on mixed use and and apartment residential with enhanced walkability. Um it's also worth noting that this uh the Emerson site is uh within the W Lacrosse master plan. And so as they look at at their campus um Emerson has been included within that uh potential growth boundary. Um and and the district is certainly uh interested in that site. Uh from an
010infrastructure and environmental standpoint, um the the sites as I mentioned are fully served uh by by municipal water, sanitary sewer, storm water systems. Um roadway access uh is is is good. Um uh access to private electrical, natural gas, telkom, broadband, uh everything really kind of exists. There's really no known deficiencies in the transportation access and utilities available. Um, also from an environmental constraint standpoint, um, none of these sites are located, uh, in areas that would be considered flood risk. Um, there there's no known contamination on the properties. Um, however, um, it it should probably be assumed that there is uh the potential for asbestous, lead based paint, and and those sorts of legacy building materials um that will inhibit uh redevelopment in in some way. Um, and then it's worth noting the the potential for
011uh Emerson to be uh designated a local historic landmark um as the city is uh has received that petition and and is uh considering that designation. Um which again could be good or bad. Obviously, it's um it would be better to uh not have that at least in for the time being while we try to figure out uh what the market demand is and and how those sites could be most effectively reused. um but uh but could could bring some benefits when it comes to historic rehab if if that's a route that we decide to go. Um other key considerations um zoning changes will be required. Um neighborhood character and design quality expectations should be maintained per the comprehensive plan. Um you know a lot of things that that I've already kind of touched on.
012So um close coordination with the city of Lacrosse uh will be essential given zoning and and those sorts of things. And so they really become one of those really key stakeholders as we move this process forward. Uh the market analysis um looks at general market conditions in Lacrosse. I'm not going to get into the details on this um but but I'll touch on some highlights just again kind of as it informs the conversation and in workshop for tonight. Um office market. Um there's not a lot of significant demand for office within our market. um market uh the market for office has really uh started to to retract a little bit um as a lot of folks are working from home these days and those sort of things. There's lots of vacant office space. Um the
013report points out it's currently under lease so it doesn't show up as as as completely vacant but there there just isn't a lot of demand for that. Um Hinchin would be a a location that could potentially convert portions to to office. um uh there's you know maybe a small amount of demand but that demand is likely to to seek more efficient uh options in downtown or on highway uh corridors. Um industrial or flex market um would be uh flex is really kind of light industrial labs, contractor offices or yards, catering kitchens, things like that. um you could see some uh opportunity for things like that, especially as it as you look at uh some of the existing kitchen spaces or something if there is a a potential reuse uh of the existing building. Um but
014again, really not significant demand for this type of use. Um given some of the adjacencies, you could see some of this on on Hinchin and Spence. Um but uh also need to be careful about this because it could co could cause friction with the the neighborhood and and some of the the neighboring residential uses. Um commercial and and retail. Um again um not a huge demand in in these neighborhoods for that, but you could find some opport some limited opportunity um for uh for some small um neighborhood oriented commercial uh retail type space. Um, hospitality, there really doesn't seem to be any demand for that on these sites. Um, our market is is pretty solid when it comes to room availability. Um, unless it's graduation weekend at WL like this past weekend. Um, but uh
015uh none of the sites would probably uh be sufficient to attract a hotel investor. Uh, multifamily residential. Um, there is strong demand uh in the market for this. Um, there there's relatively low vacancy rates. Um, senior housing is obviously a a growth opportunity. Um, reuse again would would be difficult at Hinchin and Spence. Emerson could possibly be um reused for uh uh uh tax credit housing or something like that if you had the financial resources to be able to to tap into those tax credits. Um, as you all are are familiar with uh the the the Lincoln Middle site. Um, it's a it's a very competitive space. Uh but there could be opportunity there. Um all three sites would be viable for multifamily residential. Uh but affordability is the key. Um detached and attached owner
016occupied housing. Um uh again there there's significant demand for this. Um there's significant demand. The city is really looking at that missing middle which is really not the you know large single family homes and and not necessarily the the um the the multifamily large developments but really you know the the duplex triplex forplex um pocket neighborhoods those sorts of things um are really good opportunities um that the city is is interested in from a uh meeting housing demand standpoint. Um, so to look at at each site individually before we kind of jump into some of the the conversation. Um, Emerson well suited for redevelopment with owned or rental housing, potential for reuse of the existing building. Uh, likely with partial demolition. Um, you could probably keep the the core of the building and and reuse
017it with a a housing rehab or something like that. Um, but the gym and the the um the some of the the later building additions probably um would would be uh better demolished and make way for expanded parking or something like that. Um limited potential for office and and just to note that WL is an interested buyer. Um Spence uh housing will have strong demand uh strongest demand owned and rental. um likely require removal of the existing building, possible reuse of the gym if there was uh or maybe a small section of the the school if the city were interested in kind of positioning that as a neighborhood center that would tie into Ericson pool and park and that sort of thing. Um and then the possible opportunity for some flex space that would kind
018of uh build on the the adjacencies to train and and that sort of thing. But again, if it's well planned and and not uh in conflict with the neighborhood and then Hinchin um you know a little bit more flexibility um housing again uh strong demand um but uh likely uh removal of the existing building um it's a it's a beautifully designed building uh for for a school um with the classrooms and then all of the you know the gym space and the the cafeteria and everything on the interior. um it's just not not not really suitable for a lot of other uses because you you just kind of waste a lot of that space in the middle. Um if you convert the classrooms to housing or to office or something like that, it's just hard
019to think of a of a good reuse for a lot of those interior spaces. Um so, um that's that's kind of the background. Um does anybody have questions on the the background market analysis or things anything like that? So, you mentioned we're going to get um the the full analysis and everything. I was really curious about that neighborhood grocery idea that came up from the community survey or or >> that that came out of the city's comprehensive plan. >> Um there from a market analysis standpoint, um that would be a really tough sell. Um I I think uh they're just and none of these sites would probably give uh have the the traffic counts to demand a neighborhood grocery. Um but that was something that came up just as the comprehensive plan process at the
020city um came together. That was was something that was noted within the comprehensive plan. >> And that's actually been part of the city's uh long-term vision for quite a while. When I was on the council, they were looking for grocery there, too. But it's it's just not feasible for a grocery store or a chain to open up there. I mean, a small mom and pop may be able to, but quite honestly, they don't survive anymore. So, that's a difficult one to deal with there. >> Yeah, that's unfortunate. And I think you're right as as we think about walkability and the character of the neighborhood and what what kind of amenities residents in the area would actually want. It's unfortunate that it probably isn't feasible. >> Right. Mr. Newmeister, you're in the in the real estate
021market a little bit. I'm just curious if this resonates with you and kind of what you're feeling out there in the in the community. >> Absolutely. I think they're spot on. You know, it's interesting. Obviously, we heard UWL was interested in the the land over there, but then we heard they weren't they didn't have the money in the budget. And um you know, obviously we're in a tough situation where >> the money be nice, but we hang on to it. But the next >> but obviously anytime we can get more residential in the area that's going to be a topic for the city because it's much needed. >> Thank you. >> Great. We'll move forward. Um, so the the next thing that we wanted to do was really kind of spend a little bit of
022time just talking about um kind of your overall priorities for this project. So as the district thinks about these sites um what are your priorities? Um and so first um this is a list you'll find this list in the menty poll right now. Um but I'd love to just see if if there's other uh potential uh priorities that that you all um have. So, we've talked or we've we've included in the list um minimizing carrying cost to the district, um ensuring neighborhood compatibility, addressing documented community needs, enhancing district reputation as a community partner, reducing long-term liability exposure for the district, uh maximizing financial return to the district, maximizing taxbased growth, and ensuring communitywide benefits. So, we're going to get into the details of each site, but we really just want to look high level for
023a second, right? And start to understand what does success mean um for redevelopment of these sites? Does this resonate? Are there other aspects, other success factors that you know you have in mind as we're thinking about redevelopment use of the sites? I'm going to vote on these in a second, but we just want to If there's an additional item to be added, >> I don't know how to capture like there's a like the school district could retain a site or two or three or all you know or any of them, you know. Is there a priority that captures the school district's interest in retention of a property in some way? I don't know how to state that. >> Ensuring district needs are continued to be like district Yeah. >> Yeah. real estate needs are met
024>> longterm considerations. >> But even if we list them and try to get potential buyers, um if it doesn't meet our needs, I mean, we don't have to go through the project. I think, you know, that's something we'll have to we're going to take a lot of flack at with the with the taxpayers that we uh try to keep all these especially, you know, we know that they're going to probably at least one of them is going to be, you know, changed and it's going to be historical uh building. I'm sure they're going to try to do whatever they can to that. Um but that may become due to the deal if they had interest in that property. Correct. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. So just a a kind of big picture thought is what what
025we'd love to do tonight is just we we'll get these uh priorities um you know just to better kind of understand your priorities as a board. Um then we want to get into you know talking about those potential reuse and potential redevelopment options on these sites. Um and then ultimately kind of coming up with that list of kind of the the other key stakeholders. So the city UWL um you know who who else might be on that list. And so we'll talk a little bit about about that. Um, and then kind of get, you know, kind of the next step would be to start to engage some of that that inner circle of key stakeholders before we start to kind of put this out to the public. So, we'll we'll we're headed headed there. But,
026um, >> so the next step to take the quiz. >> Yeah. So, if you could each take your cell phone out or if you want to either go to menty.com and enter that code or just scan the QR code with your cell phone. Um, and we'll you can go ahead and it gives you four votes and um we'll see kind of what what uh priorities kind of rise to the top. This is really helpful to have to have the language to put to some of the and to to separate them because like minimizing cost, maximizing return are like kind of the same thing, but they don't necessarily have to be. So that's that's helpful to be able to think think out loud where am I at with this actually, >> right? >> would you like
027help connecting to this? >> I'm sorry. >> Would you like help connecting to this? >> Yeah. some better choices. >> Can you see the code and everything, Scott? >> Point it to the screen. >> I can see the the code and I can see the ranking, but I'm just not able to It's okay. >> We can always take them down verbally. >> Yeah. Do you want to share your thoughts on what you'd select in no particular order? >> Just touch back up. >> There you go. >> I can uh >> You're welcome. just to fully capture. I'll I'll scan it and then as Scott says his uh his priorities, I'll I'll check them for him and enter it in. >> There you go. >> Anybody else need help getting out of that? >> Mine's maximize
028financial return to the district. minimize cost for the district, >> right? I'm just It went away. Now I'm looking at you. So >> Dan, I don't know if you heard that, but Scott's not seeing the presentation anymore. >> Nope. I'm just not taking it. Got things in my mind. >> Looks like Dan's got back up. >> What's that? >> Community. >> Why not? >> I'm sure communitywide benefits. Just talk our way through it. You got one more, Scott. Choose wisely. >> I believe neighborhood compatibility. >> Jill, did you take the survey? As we wait, >> you can take it for me. >> So, has everybody had the opportunity? It says >> five have responded. >> Did it get I did it really early to get my response. >> It should have. Yeah, >> I did
029it after it said four. So, that was snacks. >> Yeah, just make sure when you >> there's a there's a submit but button on the bottom. So once you've checked your four, make sure you hit the submit button. >> I think you got mine. >> Is this way out there? For instance, I'm not call for a daycare center >> for the city. >> Are you missing some? >> I think so, but um I'm not sure how to get this to the screen. Okay, >> I did mine again just in case. >> I was going to say it asked me if I wanted to do it again. >> It's kind of like soup. >> You got to skew the results a little bit. >> Add them up. I grab a screenshot into the I can't remember
030and maybe I I never knew but the company or the person that wanted to buy Lincoln, what were their thoughts in terms of doing what with it? >> Um, workforce housing >> using tax credits. >> Yeah. >> WEDA >> and historic designation to renovate it for affordable housing. >> Yep. >> Sorry, a little clunkier than I would have thought, but um here we go. So these are uh this is the um the results. Um so we had five votes for uh minimizing carrying costs to the district and ensuring long-term district needs are met. Um and then there's kind of a a cluster of of uh three votes um for ensuring neighborhood compatibility, addressing documented community needs, and enhancing district reputation as a community partner. Then we had a couple of votes for maximizing financial return
031to the district and ensuring communitywide benefits. one vote for maximizing tax base growth and uh no votes for reducing long-term liability exposure for the district. So, this is helpful. I think it it just kind of helps to uh um I think just kind of set the tone for uh what the priorities are as we move forward and and try to identify reuses. So, what we'd love to spend some time doing is inviting you all up to the tables um to take a look at the maps um and and get into a little bit of a workshop. So, what I'd ask you to do is be realistic, but don't be afraid to be creative. Um think about are there current partnerships that could be leveraged? Are there new partnerships that as a district you'd like to
032develop? Um are there uh you know I think think about adjacencies. Are there things that could be you know like the UWL connection or you know are there other adjacency the the park at at uh Spence the you know those those sorts of things. Um think about innovative uh initiatives that you've seen elsewhere other districts that are doing cool things. Could you engage a community partner that would, you know, use this space in a creative way that would meet another uh community benefit? Um, definitely be respectful of others opinions and and make sure that other that that all viewpoints are able to be shared. Um, I also thought it was just good good kind of grounding to to like to look at the the mission of the school district of Lacrosse. um to just kind
033of I I know you all live this, but just to to kind of keep this in your mind as you think about the reuse of these sites. Um and then thinking about broader community challenges. Obviously, we we've already talked about housing, accessibility, affordability. Um uh Dr. Angel and I are are working together on some some work around child care and early learning. And so, you know, that that's obviously a a broad community need um from an accessibility and affordability standpoint as well. Um workforce uh training and and alignment uh as you all are are working to train the workforce of tomorrow. Um you know, are there opportunities uh partnerships that could be forged along those fronts? So, um you want to come up to the tables um >> Yeah. >> Can I ask a quick
034question? Yeah, please. >> I don't mind do this. >> Have we looked at obviously we have a school downtown, right? Have we looked at we anticipate that growing and the need for that growing and do we utilize maybe part of one of these areas for maybe move down, sell the property downtown or is that property feasible for an office building for you guys? um you know is that things we're looking at as well because I think that is something at least we should um explore the the need for um the future of you know each building but not only the future of those buildings but our our need for um what what's going to be 5 10 years down the road. >> Yeah. When you say an office for you guys, do you mean? Are
035they going to move in? Or do you mean the the district administration? >> I I just mean like the admin. Yeah. Administration. Actually, anyone. I mean, it'd be a lot easier to sell that building downtown than it would be, you know, to to maybe sell a historic building at this point. So, that's why I'm just that's at least something that should be discussed or explored. >> Yeah, absolutely. Okay. No, I think those are all good ideas to explore. You know, our current enrollment at Polytechnics about 8590. It's a capacity is about 120. Um, you know, if it exploded for some reason with enrollment, we would definitely feel the the pinch there hasn't to date. Um, so but that's definitely something to consider. And um, you also just invested like $2 million into it a couple
036years ago. Yeah, in 2020 we invested about $2 million and a million dollar purchase price, you know, so we're, you know, leveraged a little bit there. We've paid all that off. It's not like there's any, you know, costs that we're, you know, paying off, so to speak. It would just be and I think I think it's great, Scott, that you're putting this on the table. It's just a one of those, all right, so you know, the maintenance concerns at Emerson, does that outweigh the uh salailability concerns at PY? You know, balance of trade-offs there, you know. So, yeah, but yeah, absolutely. I think that's on the table and something to consider long term. >> Good point. >> So, what we'd like you to do is we'd like you to break up into two groups. Half
037of you go to one table, half to the other. And we want we're going to evaluate each site. We have a document where we want you to list reuse potentials and you don't necessarily have to be reiterate what we heard, but if you have other ideas, list those here. And then for each site, so let's kind of reuse for redevelopment maybe more or less. We have little blocks that are two scale. And so you can lay down like this commercial block or you can lay down a bunch of single family, residential lots or twin homes uh or park space, parking. And so what we want you to do is lay out some different scenarios for each um site. And then once you have that scenario laid out, we'll come by and take a picture of
038it uh just to document that scenario. Um at the end we'll spend maybe 10 minutes per site kind of as your discussion happens at the table and then progress to the next site. Um >> um at the end we do want to do a report and just share what what the groups found what the consensus was. >> All right. Yeah. So if we want to get started we'll be here for questions. We also have trace paper over there. See if we can lay that out. Another scenario. >> I'm looking to see if there are any Heath bars left. Well, let me go get the >> Just in case. >> You don't have to do that. It was right here. >> Four of them already. >> Yeah. The city would This is I mean >> I
039think there's one >> but you know the neighborhood >> I talked about just always interested abstract the science halls. >> Exactly. >> And for the first time in history, we have >> totally It's a very very slow change. >> I'm assuming you guys are doing like a stretch. I'm just going to off. >> Yeah, it's really in person here. We're sitting at the table looking. >> I don't know if you want to hang around. >> Would it be all right if I just reached out to Scott like sometime just connected with him? >> Yeah. >> Like sometime in the next couple of days. Scott, I I'll connect with you at a later date and just kind of get some of your input on this. >> Yeah, thank you. There are different