Since We Last Met August 15 The City of Green Bay Common Council voted 7 to 5 to support a plan for the $35 million downtown Hotel Northland renovation project to go into receivership, hoping to provide some possibility that recent contractors on the project would be paid and that construction could possibly be complete by mid-2018. Virginia-based Octagon Partners offered to provide $16.5 million toward the project and take a principal equity position under the condition the property be placed into court-appointed receivership. The extensive project – which was originally scheduled for completion last summer – has struggled to move forward during the past year as the project’s senior lender backed out its financial support in late 2016 while the two ownership groups battled in court over control of the project. August 15 The Wisconsin Department of Revenue released its annual Equalized Value Report for 2017, indicating total statewide equalized property value increased 4 percent from a year ago to $526 billion. The report indicated Wisconsin residential property increased 4.3 percent to $369 billion, while commercial property value climbed 5.1 percent to $102 billion. Across the region, equalized property values in Brown County increased 6 percent to $20.1 billion; Outagamie County increased 6 percent to $14.5 billion; Winnebago County increased 5 percent to $12. 5 billion; and Fond du Lac County increased 3 percent to $7.2 billion. Among
communities from the region valued above $2 billion, Green Bay increased its equalized value by 5 percent to $6.1 billion; Appleton increased 6 percent to $5.1 billion; Oshkosh increased 4 percent to $3.8 billion; Fond du Lac increased 4 percent to $2.7 billion; and Ashwaubenon increased by 7 percent to $2.2 billion. August 16 The Brown County Board of Supervisors approved a measure to use proceeds from an increase to the area’s hotel room tax and county sales tax toward a litany of capital projects in the county, including a $93 million project to replace Veterans Memorial Arena and Shopko Hall in Ashwaubenon with a multipurpose exposition building. Construction of the proposed 120,000-sq. ft. expo center is expected to begin in 2020 and would replace the 60-year-old arena. Other projects in the capital improvement package include a $20 million expansion of the county jail; $5 million toward the construction of a science and technology center on the northeast side of Green Bay; and several million dollars for transportation and bridge improvements across the county, as well as various other projects. August 17 The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation filed for bankruptcy in the wake of several months of difficulties stemming from improper financing and credit backing for
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