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Developers present proposed TIF term sheet for Phase 3 of Waunakee Business Park; board moves to closed session
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Summary
MLG Development and Saint John Properties described a hybrid tax-increment financing proposal for Phase 3 of the Waunakee Business Park (approx. 27 acres, 21 developable, 6 acres for utilities/right-of-way). Board moved into closed session under Wisconsin statute 19.51(e) to negotiate the proposed agreement.
Representatives from MLG Development and Saint John Properties presented a proposed term sheet Nov. 28 for developing Phase 3 of the Waunakee Business Park and requested the board contemplate a tax incremental financing (TIF) agreement for Tax Incremental District (TID) Number 10.
Joe Bukovich of MLG Development said Phase 3 is roughly 27 acres, with about 21 acres developable and the remaining six acres for road right-of-way and stormwater facilities. He described a hybrid financing approach in which MLG would pay due-diligence and grading costs while the village would cover public utility costs; MLG offered to guarantee debt payments tied to the public-utility borrowings as part of the compromise after initial full pay-go and village-borrow proposals failed to meet both parties’ needs.
Bukovich said the design of the initial 6-acre parcel is intended to be self-sustaining—tax increment generated by that parcel would be applied first to pay the costs associated with developing that same parcel, and residual increment could then support subsequent phases. Jason Akilski of Saint John Properties said his company builds multi-tenant spec buildings and that the firm’s existing four buildings are about 90% leased; he said typical tenants include professional office, medical, light manufacturing and specialized labs and that a lease-up for a development this size generally takes one to three years depending on market conditions.
During Q&A, board members asked whether prior Saint John buildings received TIF assistance (staff said the last phase used TIF for property improvements but not building construction), about occupancy rates in Madison-area projects and how Saint John manages building maintenance (the company contracts out lawn care and snow removal). Staff said Kate Crowley and consultants (Eller and Associates) had helped evaluate the proposal and invited the board to deliberate in closed session to negotiate competitive terms. A motion to convene a closed session under Wisconsin statute 19.51(e) passed by roll call and the meeting went into closed session at 6:48 p.m.
What happens next: the board will negotiate the term sheet in closed session and may reconvene in open session to act on any agreement; no final TIF agreement was approved in open session.
