New London project breaking ground this summer

By Scott Bellile

Construction will proceed on an estimated $17 million apartment complex bringing 98 units to the downtown riverfront.

The New London City Council approved a developer’s agreement with Mosinee-based firm S.C. Swiderski and committed over $1 million in aid to the West Wolf River Avenue project April 17.

The council authorized $614,732 for the utility work – the relocation of sanitary sewer and water lines to be performed by Kruczek Construction of Green Bay – and up to $400,000 to fill in the soil on the former Wolf River Lumber property.

Furthermore, the city will sell the 4-acre site to SCS for $1.

The developer’s agreement stipulates the city will finish the utilities by July 31.

SCS must break ground by Aug. 31, with a completion date no later than July 31, 2025.

City Administrator Chad Hoerth said he believes the firm will meet that deadline during a Finance and Personnel Committee meeting April 5.

“Obviously they’re not going to want to dillydally,” Hoerth said. “Once they get going and start spending money, they’re going to want to get it done and get people in there, start bringing revenue in.”

“I’m not a lawyer or nothing, so in layman terms, what is the penalty if they do not go through with all of this?” Ald. Tim Roberts asked Hoerth..

The contract includes clawback measures for the city to reclaim the property and recover the utility costs in the event of termination, Hoerth said.

Building plan

SCS will offer 16 studio apartments, 31 studio suites, 42 one-bedroom and nine two-bedroom units.

Amenities will include 64 garage parking stalls, 87 outdoor parking stalls, electric car charging stations, fitness center and yoga studio, communal riverfront patio and quick access to the Bernegger River Walk.

The market-rate rents will range from $1,100 to $2,300 monthly.

20-year saga

Development of the site has been two decades in the making, according to city records and news archives.

Wolf River Lumber owner Gary Ort built a multi-million-dollar plant on County Highway S and vacated his downtown facility in 2002.

He donated the land, buildings and all, to the city in 2004.

That year, an architecture graduate student completed a six-month study of the downtown. She proposed townhouses, a library, public square and ice rink as possible uses for the old lumberyard.

City officials decided against more industry along the river and demolished the buildings in the mid-2000s rather than try to attract another manufacturer.
The city rezoned the northern edge of the property and developed the public river walk in 2009.

The saleable portion sat without prospective buyers into the mid-2010s. City officials blamed the lack of interest on the view of the run-down private building facades across the river.

In 2016, the New London Public Library began reconsidering plans to build a new facility across the road from its existing building on South Pearl Street.

Instead, the library board switched its sights to the riverfront property, exploring a mixed-use library building shared with private businesses and housing to reduce construction costs.

The city in 2017 partnered with two firms, Stadtmueller & Associates and Short Elliott Hendrickson, to research community desires.

A year later, the partnership proposed a “mixed-use neighborhood.”

The concept included 32 townhouses and two duplexes on the lumberyard site.

The neighborhood spanned farther east to South Pearl Street. Renderings depicted a combined library/senior housing building and a separate commercial building occupying the Longevity Nutrition and John’s Bar properties.

The city missed a deadline to apply for senior housing credits in late 2018, and one of the firm owners became ill.

Planning slowed in 2019, and the city dissolved the partnership.

The city sought fresh proposals in 2020.

SCS won in 2021 with its pitch that returned the focus to the original 4-acre site and eliminated the mixed-use components altogether.

SCS envisioned eight apartment buildings totaling 44 units. Rising construction costs and interest rates led to SCS changing the concept last fall to one building with double the units.

Meanwhile, the library returned to planning an annex on South Pearl Street before finding a new home.

First State Bank announced last year it will build a new bank one block north and donate its two-story building on West North Water Street to the library.
Both buildings could be occupied by their new owners next year.