Vacant property for sale in Clintonville
By Bert Lehman
The Clintonville Redevelopment Authority (RDA) is seeking bids for the purchase and redevelopment of the vacant residential property located at 19 Fifth St.
At a Jan. 18 meeting, the RDA authorized City Administrator Sharon Eveland to move forward with seeking Request for Proposals (RFP).
The RDA had purchased the property at 19 Fifth St. in the fall from Waupaca County as part of the county’s tax foreclosure program. The RDA paid $1,500 for the property.
Eveland said that since the purchase, there have been questions as to whether the city would oversee the renovations of the property or it would be put out on bids for private development.
“I know that there was sufficient concern, I think, that’s come up from some people about not wanting the city to become involved in that,” Eveland said. “So, at this point, I think to get this moving forward, I think the best route is to put this project out for proposals for private developers.”
When developing an RFP for the project, Eveland said she used RFPs from Janesville as a guide. Janesville does a lot of similar projects.
The goal of requesting RFPs for the project would be to see if a private developer would be interested in the property.
“Doing it this way, what it does, is give the Redevelopment Authority a little bit of control over what happens with the property,” Eveland said.
By following this process, Eveland said it helps hold developers to their proposals, and ensure the redevelopment is done properly.
The deadline to submit a redevelopment proposal is March 5, and the RFP will require the redevelopment to be completed prior to Dec. 10.
RDA member Jack DeWolf questioned whether nine months is enough time to complete a renovation.
Eveland responded by initially saying she thought it could be completed in nine months, but added that if a developer is working on several other projects, then the timeline might be problematic.
“I think it really depends on how committed somebody is to this,” Eveland said.
She cautioned against pushing a completion date back too far, because it is important that the project be completed in a timely manner.
She said the intent is to have the project completed by the end of 2021, to allow the increase in the property’s value to be realized on Jan. 1, 2022. This allows the city to realize the higher value on its tax roll sooner.
“The intent is to make sure everything is done by the end of the year for property assessment values,” Eveland said.
RDA Chair Ben Huber said if a developer will be hiring local contractors to do some of the renovation work, he does not think the work can be completed by the end of the year.
Eveland recommended leaving the deadline as is in the RFP, but to allow for an extension if needed.
RDA member Mike Loberg asked Eveland if she had an idea of what price she was hoping the RDA would receive for the property.
“At this point the intent is to make sure that we recoup any expenses on it,” Eveland said. “Part of that is going to part of the review process when it comes back to you guys to look at what the offers are on it.”
Huber said, “We will look at the bids and find out essentially what is the best deal for the city. Whether that’s the high initial price or what they intend to do for taxes in the future. How much they’re willing to do to increase the value of the property. But that will be for later discussion if we get proposals that are acceptable.”
According to the city’s RFP, “The evaluation and selection of a buyer will be based on the offer to purchase price and the submission of all required documents in true and complete form. However, responses that include conversation of the property from a duplex to a single-family home will be given preference.”
DeWolf asked Eveland if she knew what the interest was from developers in pursuing this redevelopment project.
“I do fully anticipate that people are going to want to get involved in this,” Eveland said.