Before After the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources ; and a $ 40,700 Site Assessment Grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation .
Huelsman ’ s company had never worked on a brownfield redevelopment project , and he said he greatly appreciated Ayres ’ assistance in navigating the regulatory process .
“ They were very timely with their reports and had an excellent working relationship with the state and granting agencies ,” Huelsman said . “ They were on-site when we needed them to be , and everything went very smoothly .”
In addition to the initial uncertainty of which , if any , grants would be awarded , another challenge was the tight timeframe in which the team had to complete the work .
“ We had to get all these grants in place , get all the financing and funding in place , get the building built , and it had a due date of August 15 because the students were going to show up and move in – and there is no slipping that date ,” he said .
While there was a hard delivery date on the construction schedule , preparing grant proposals and getting other affairs in order also takes time .
“ The schedule can start to compress , but the end date doesn ’ t change – so the stress level goes up ,” Huelsman said , noting that final details were still being completed as students were moving in , and the management company obtained its occupancy permit with one day to spare .
Results revealing
Besides the striking visual transformation , the redevelopment has also decreased crime , created 25 to 30 jobs , and boosted the tax value .
“ The amount of taxes paid today on those three buildings is over 10 times what was paid prior to this construction , so the payoff to the city and to all the residents of the city is pretty significant ,” Lostetter said .
“ It was a blighted area that now looks terrific ,” Huelsman added .
Precast concrete panels accelerate repairs and provide longevity for busy Wisconsin interstate
Before
By Jennifer Schmidt
After
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