BREAKING: T. Wall Enterprises will break ground on Wausau Center mall site today
BREAKING: T. Wall Enterprises will break ground on Wausau Center mall site today
UPDATE: The groundbreaking happened and The Wausonian was one of only two news outlets present
UPDATE: T. Wall Enterprises broke ground on the mall site Thursday evening. The Wausonian was one of only two news outlets on the scene, as no one involved did much to publicize it. More coming in a future story but for now, here is the video from last night’s groundbreaking:
The Wausonian has confirmed from city officials today that T. Wall Enterprises will break ground on the former Wausau Center mall 1 site some time today.
Community Development Director Liz Brodek confirmed to The Wausonian that T. Wall Enterprises closed on the site yesterday, in one portion of the land where Wausau Center mall once stood. A groundbreaking is imminent today, Brodek confirmed Thursday morning to The Wausonian.
The timing is interesting since with less than 24 hours, there isn’t time to send 24-hour notice that a quorum of the city council might attend - that would bar a majority of city council members from attending the groundbreaking.
The Wausonian first broke news this morning that the developer was about to close on the property. Now it has broken that the groundbreaking does appear to be set to happen today.
The details
These were the original details of the project, from our past reporting:
T. Wall Enterprises plans to build two apartment complexes on the former mall site, bringing more than 300 apartment units downtown. The first was supposed to start construction this spring.
City leaders say only 3-5% of Wausau’s residents live near downtown, and healthy downtowns require 12-15% of its population nearby.
The apartments range from $800 to $2,879, from studio to three-bedroom.
City leaders approved $10.8 million in TIF incentives (the amount includes the total interest amount) toward the first project.
This project is the first of two. With the complications of the first project, it’s unknown if T. Wall Enterprises still plans to build a second. Today’s groundbreaking is for the first project, which received the above TIF incentives.
It’s also yet unknown whether the price range is still the same, since those figures go back a few years.
The Wausonian plans to attend the groundbreaking and this reporter hopes to get a chance to ask some questions of T. Wall officials. We plan to take video of the ceremony as well.
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Style note: The Wausonian employs the name Wausau Center mall, since “mall” was technically not part of the official title. Wausau Center was the actual title.