Elected officials in Appleton will consider a series of actions on July 15 to advance and support Wilden Portfolio Park, the 580-acre commercial and residential development being undertaken by North Meadows Investment Ltd., a subsidiary of Thrivent, on the city’s north side.
The Common Council will vote to:
Wilden Portfolio Park lies north of Interstate 41, east of Meade, south of Edgewood Drive and west of Ballard. Plans show commercial development, including a grocery store and a hotel, near I-41 and Ballard. There would be more than 2,000 new housing units on the balance of the property.
Community Development Director Kara Homan described Wilden as “one of the city’s most significant mixed-use development opportunities.”
Appleton typically doesn’t create a TIF district to underwrite residential development, but Homan said that in this case, public assistance is needed to spur the development of high-density multifamily housing and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects at Wilden. The market isn’t delivering those types of housing on its own, she said.
Wilden will offer traditional single-family subdivisions on its north side, but those areas have been excluded from the TIF district and public assistance so as not to provide an unfair advantage over other developers of single-family homes operating nearby.
Appleton resident Walter Blank questioned the need for a new TIF district and public incentives, noting the Thrivent land isn’t blighted. He wondered whether the city is going too far to support the development.
“We really want this,” Blank told the Finance Committee. “We want it so bad that we’re willing to go to lengths that maybe we shouldn’t quite go to. The idea of subsidizing a business’s disposition of property kind of raises a red flag with me.”
What does the development agreement say?
The proposed development agreement states Appleton would create a new TIF district and borrow $11 million to reimburse North Meadows, in part, for the construction of public infrastructure within Wilden, including the extension of Evergreen, intersection improvements, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations.
Appleton also would pay $14 million in principal, plus 6% interest, to North Meadows as an incentive to proceed with the first phase of development.
The agreement calls for North Meadows to begin the construction of infrastructure improvements by Sept. 1, 2026, and to complete them by Sept. 1, 2028.
Mayor Jake Woodford emphasized that the repayment of the city’s debt wouldn’t be borne by general taxpayers in Appleton but rather by the tax increment created by the development.
A TIF district is a public funding tool that allows a municipality to capture gross property tax revenues from new development within a defined area to pay for costs incurred or promised to bring about that development. The tax revenues from the increment are diverted from the other taxing entities – school district, county and technical college – for as long as the district is in effect.
Under the development agreement, the city’s debt service would be funded first, before any other obligations, and North Meadows would be required to make shortfall payments to the city if the tax increment is insufficient to pay the debt service.
“It’s a layer of protection to make sure that taxpayers are not bearing the cost of the infrastructure,” Woodford told The Post-Crescent.
The development incentive of $14 million plus interest would total an estimated $25.5 million in gross payments, according to a cash flow projection prepared by Ehlers Inc., a consultant hired by the city. The payments would be made only after sufficient property taxes have been collected on the new development, thereby limiting the city’s risk.
The agreement contains a lookback analysis at 10 years that would reduce future incentive payments if the developer’s internal rate of return exceeds 15%.
“Through a carefully structured public-private partnership, the agreement leverages private investment to deliver essential public infrastructure, unlock future housing and commercial development, and position the city for significant long-term fiscal and economic benefits,” Homan said in a July 1 memorandum to the Community Development Committee.
Wilden could yield $600 million in new property value
Ehlers estimated the development of Wilden Portfolio Park would yield $607 million in additional property value when fully built out. The amount consists of $211 million in the first phase and $396 million in the second phase.
An economic feasibility study determined that if only the first phase proceeds, it would generate $57 million in tax increment, and the city would recover its investment within 20 years. That’s the maximum life of a TIF district.
If both phases of development proceed as planned, they would generate $117 million in tax increment, and the city would recover its investment within 16 years.
The first project announced for Wilden is the construction of a four-story, 155,000-square-foot operations center for Thrivent, a Fortune 500 fraternal organization. It will replace Thrivent’s operations center at 4321 N. Ballard Road.
“We anticipate being able to share updated timing along with new renderings in fall,” Nathan Dupont, senior public relations manager for Thrivent, told The Post-Crescent on July 8.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X at @DukeBehnke.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Appleton’s support for Thrivent development comes to a vote July 15
Reporting by Duke Behnke, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Duke Behnke, Appleton Post-Crescent | USA TODAY Network
