Downtown Edgerton development faces uncertain future
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Scheduled to be ready for occupancy this spring, the Fulton Square project in downtown Edgerton is a dominating presence.
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Visitors to the Fulton Square project in downtown Edgerton stand in the main living space for one of the two bedroom units located on the second floor of the three-story building. The mixed-use development is slated to open later this spring.
Fulton Square update
Developer Tom Keller said he hopes Fulton Square will be ready for residents by early April.
Real estate agents Paula Carrier and Chris Sweeney plan to start holding open houses every weekend starting in late March or early April, they said.
They also plan to resume monthly weeknight forums about the same time, they said.
The mixed-use project features 26 condominiums, ranging in price from $116,000 to $190,000, and 16,000 square feet of retail space. Petry Chiropractic & Wellness recently bought 3,200 square feet of space and hopes to move in within 90 days, Carrier said.
Keller hopes to sell one or two condos a month, he said. At that rate, the project will fill in about a year and a half.
EDGERTON — Paula Carrier gets excited when she walks into the nearly complete Fulton Square project in downtown Edgerton.
"Look at that long hallway," the real estate agent said on a recent tour. "I can still hardly believe it."
After two years of planning and building, the retail and residential project should wrap up major construction in the next four to six weeks.
But the project, like many mixed-use developments, faces an uncertain future.
No one expected today's sour economy more than two years ago when Keller Development announced the $6.1 million project, assisted by nearly $1.2 million in tax incremental financing from the city.
Experts say mixed-use projects such as Fulton Square have seen mixed results during the recession, but those involved with the Edgerton project say they're confident it will succeed.
"My expectations have not changed on that project because of the economy," Mayor Erik Thompson said. "I know that it will be a success for the city."
Carrier is one of two real estate agents hired to market the development's 26 condominiums. Though no one has bought a condo yet, she estimates interest has tripled in the last few weeks as workers finish the exterior.
The recession carries some benefits to homebuyers, she said. Rates and prices are low, and the new federal stimulus package offers an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers in 2009.
"People are still going to need housing, and if the price is good and the rates are good, there's still going to be a demand," she said.
The development recently closed on a sale of 3,200 square feet of retail space, nearly a quarter of the total, to Petry Chiropractic & Wellness. It has seen interest from several other businesses, including a sporting goods store and coffee shop, Carrier said.
But interest is one thing; closing the deal is another, said Jeff Farnsworth, part owner of the newly renovated Eager Economy Building in downtown Evansville.
Farnsworth and his partners completed construction on the mixed-use downtown building more than a year ago. They've leased six of eight apartments, but they're having trouble filling retail space.
"It seems that nobody can pull the trigger right now," he said.
Many, though not all, mixed-use projects are struggling, said Steve Malpezzi, professor of real estate and urban land economics at the Wisconsin School of Business.
"Some mixed-use projects have not done as well as hoped, and that was even before the economy turned down, but that doesn't mean every mixed-use project can't work out," he said.
Mixed-use developments have become more popular in the last two decades because they're more environmentally friendly than the urban sprawl popular in the 1960s and '70s, he said.
But the projects face special challenges because they depend on the retail and residential markets, both of which are weak right now, he said.
Anita Kramer, director of retail and mixed-use development for the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute, said the problem isn't mixed-use developments but the real estate market as a whole.
She believes mixed-use developments will remain popular after the recession, she said.
"For many reasons, the mixed-use (project) in the right location will remain strong, as strong as it can be at this time, and will come out of this strong," she said.
Carrier believes Fulton Square is in the right location. It offers a vibrant downtown setting in the middle of an attractive bedroom community, she said.
"I just feel bad for those who are going to wait two years, and the prices are going to go up, and the rates are going to go up," she said. "They're going to be unhappy."
Mar 2, 2009 at 5:35 p.m.
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$190.000 for an apartment in downtown Edgerton! That is silly! Edgerton downtown renewal has been a project for moer that 30 years and little or nothing has changed. emtey buildings.
Mar 2, 2009 at noon
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Has anyone thought about the bar patrons who lost their view of the railroad and tobacco warehouse? No one ever thinks of the drunks!
Mar 2, 2009 at 11:28 a.m.
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http://elgintx.com/HISTORICDOWNTOWN.ASP
This would be nice....
Mar 2, 2009 at 11:16 a.m.
Mar 2, 2009 at 11:03 a.m.
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I live here in Edgerton,what would have been nice was to have a program for revitalizing the buildings we already have. The ones that still remain vacant across the street and have low income housing upstairs. How about offering grants for the historic homes that have fallen to disrepair? Or the historic homes that have been split up into apartments?
I am disapointed that we couldn't see what was right infront of our face.We have a truly wonderful city that needs to concintrate on our history.
Sorry about sp probs...lol
Mar 2, 2009 at 9:52 a.m.
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It's getting too hard to remain positive about Edgerton (particularly on this site); Especially when there are so many people who just stand in line to watch it fall.
Mar 1, 2009 at 9:10 p.m.
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I'd like to find a bank that will finance a condo with no other units selling. Just wait till some major repair has to be done and theres no money in the association pot. What a joke. Way to go Edgerton, another empty building for your revitalized downtown!
Mar 1, 2009 at 8:50 p.m.
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"I just feel bad for those who are going to wait two years, and the prices are going to go up, and the rates are going to go up," she [Carrier?] said. "They're going to be unhappy."
Uh....no....rates influence affordability....when rates go up prices WILL come down and be in line with income and rent. The days of easy loans are over. The 80's were very different, as interest rates were high and could be brought down.
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Today, we are at all time home price highs and low interest rates.
Mar 1, 2009 at 8:39 p.m.
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Shocking....just shocking....no one could have seen this coming...
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I thought snowbirds were going to buy the condos?
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May 12, 2008
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http://gazettextra.com/news/2008/may/12/...
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No one has bought a condo yet, but Carrier and Sweeney have heard plenty of interest, especially from “snowbirds” who spend summers in Wisconsin and winters down South, they said.
Mar 1, 2009 at 7:47 p.m.
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Ava-this is a forum for opinions on articles published in the gazette. People have made valid points. Just because you don't agree with some of them, doesn't mean the people you don't agree with should run for office. Maybe you think recommending that people run for office has an impact, but it doesn't....it's lame.
Mar 1, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.
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I just do not understand why all of the narrow minded people choose to channel such negative energy at this situation. Edgerton is no Chicago, I will give you that, but each city has dwellings in the downtown area or as some consider it "the place to be". Some people do not care about the railroad or what is across the street. It is about the home itself or most of all the location to downtown. You people need to quit being so negative. In times that are down enough you sure put the "icing on the cake." If people came down on your daily decisions like you do these news articles I'm sure your self esteem would nose dive. Have some respect. If you do not like the decisions being made, quit being a coward and run for city office.
Mar 1, 2009 at 6:12 p.m.
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No one mentioned that banks aren't lending. They took our money, and they spent it on purchasing other banks and on bonuses, etc. 30 billion for AIG today.
Mar 1, 2009 at 1:06 p.m.
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I don't know who to agree with first although I said something very similar to newsread5 a few months back. Last week as I sat across the street getting my taxes done, looking at that Monstrosity...all that kept running through my mind was "What a great place that would have made, for a parking lot".
Mar 1, 2009 at 12:25 p.m.
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Maybe a reality show is the answer to get this thing moving. Anyone interested in actually living in the condos can have a free 6 month trial. Move in with the camera crews and see how much the person hates living there once they get an idea of the noise levels they would be surrounded with daily/nightly. Not to mention all the events held in the downtown area they would be able to "enjoy" being in the midst of. These things would just be the tip of the iceberg as far as what someone who actually lives there would have to deal with. The winner would be the person who could live there the longest.
Mar 1, 2009 at 12:18 p.m.
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"My expectations have not changed on that project because of the economy," Mayor Erik Thompson said. "I know that it will be a success for the city."
TRANSLATION: "I have to pretend that I know this thing will succeed because if it fails I'm going to have alot of egg to clean off my face"
Yeah, who could have predicted that a multi-million dollar housing development wedged directly between 6 bars and a set of railroad tracks would have problems getting tenants. Sure, it's all the economy. Maybe Mayor Thompson should put in a call to Washington and as Barack for a bailout so we can all pay for this failure too.
Mar 1, 2009 at 9:01 a.m.
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This was an ill conceived, ill fated developemnt from the start. Let's see, who is in the market for a condo in downtown Edgerton with active railroad to the rear and a great view of old tobacco warehouses? Then to the front a series of old saloons and failing businesses that change hands regularly. No green space but plenty of drunks to view. I drive by and say to myself "what were they thinking?". The city will most likely never recover a dime of the TIF money invested in this foolhardy project.
Mar 1, 2009 at 7:50 a.m.
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As a former resident of Edgerton, I think this was a huge mistake. Business's have sat empty for years downtown, and now you drive down fulton street and feel like your trapped. I hate the new building, it doesnt fit downtown. That money could have been well spent somewhere else.
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