Wisconsin Builder | City Lights

CHANGE OF SCENERY

De Forest transforms its downtown

Village turns blighted land into growing development

By Jeremy Harrell

The library in De Forest calls on the village's Norwegian heritage. Project Architect Steve Kieckhafer with Bray Associates Inc., Middleton, said he wanted the structure to resemble Norwegian stave churches. He said he also wanted the building to be a focal point for redevelopment projects.

The transformation of the blighted land that would become De Forest's downtown began in 1997, when village leaders acted on a recently completed master plan and poured money into cleanup efforts.

With the help of a state brownfields redevelopment grant, the village hired contractors to demolish a series of old buildings and turn abandoned properties into prime real estate, said Amy Tweeten, village director of economic development and planning.

"The downtown had really deteriorated," Tweeten said. "What's happening now is trying to really create a city center, a central idea for the city."

Coincidentally, the De Forest Library Board wanted a new building and had initially planned to locate it on the village's fringe. But the De Forest Village Board, working with the vision of the master plan, talked library officials into moving the project downtown so it could become a focal point for redevelopment projects.

Steve Kieckhafer, a project architect with Bray Associates Inc., Middleton, said his firm tried to satisfy both boards' goals and create a building that would serve as a functioning library and be a catalyst for development. He said he thought Bray succeeded with its design reminiscent of Norwegian stave churches, complete with jutting prows normally seen on Viking ships.

"We knew it would be an anchor," Kieckhafer said. "It would be visible and create a focal point for downtown development."

Roberts Construction Associates Inc., Madison, the project's construction manager, finished the job in February, and it's now the centerpiece for private development and a new municipal campus.

"It's an activity generator," Tweeten said.

Building up

The Village Board ended up spending close to $6 million on the library, land acquisition and remediation. The village's attentiveness to the front end of construction lured Tom Keller, a partner with Keller Development, Madison.

"What attracted us was that the land assembly had already been done," he said. "If the government doesn't take leadership to assemble the land, it makes things difficult. The village has clearly made a commitment to renovating downtown, and we wanted to be a part of it."

De Forest Town Square, located in the heart of De Forest, is the first mixed-use development to go up in the village's downtown. Tom Keller, a partner with Keller Development, Madison, said he was attracted to De Forest because the city had made a clear commitment to rethinking its downtown. That commitment included nearly $6 million in investments to acquire land, install necessary infrastructure and clean up blighted properties.

Keller's company is completing work on the first phase of the De Forest Town Square, a mixed-use development with 28 condominiums located across the street from the library. Built by Krupp Construction, Madison, the Town Square is the first in a two-phase operation.

The second phase is coming down the pike, and Keller said it would add two buildings mirroring the first phase. Village leaders had originally looked to developers for commercial space, but Keller said he convinced them that a sustainable downtown needed people living there.

"We made it clear that if you want commercial development, you have to have residential density," he said. "That's the way it works. We're trying to create the excitement and synergy that mixed-use developments create."

Keller wasn't the only developer to hear the village's call for construction. Park Towne Corp., Madison, recently finished an apartment building just north of downtown, Tweeten said.

The developer is planning to add another similar building, along with two buildings with four apartments and a duplex.

Tweeten said she's frequently asked how much money the village pumped into the downtown revitalization effort through its tax-incremental financing district. She said "enough" is her response.

"It's a long time coming," Tweeten said. "The land sat for a long time cleared. Now things are moving. We took out a lot of money, but the (TIF) district has been very successful."

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