Marathon declines opportunity to purchase 20 acres of land

By Kevin O’Brien

Marathon City officials have declined to purchase a little over 20 acres in the village’s new northern business park, allowing a private developer to buy the land instead.

At a special Nov. 15 board meeting, trustees approved a declination of the village’s right of first refusal on two parcels of land owned by Herman Hilmershausen, located along the north side of STH 29, just west of STH 107. In August of 2019, the village purchased 36.44 acres of land from Hilmershausen in that same area, and as part of that deal, it obtained the right of first refusal for an adjacent 20.17 acres.

Hilmershausen recently reached an agreement to sell the land to a private developer, KATN Developments, LLC, giving the village an opportunity to match the offer under its right of first refusal. If the KATN purchase does not go through for some reason, village administrator Steve Cherek said the village would still retain its right if other offers came along.

Last month, after meeting in closed session, the board voted to buy .57 acres of land in the business park area for $8,310.

The land north of STH 29 is all located within tax-incremental district (TID) 1, which allows the village to use the property taxes from any new developments to cover the costs of public infrastructure improvements. KATN Developments will need to follow the same covenants as others with property in the TID 1 business park, according to meeting minutes.

Kruczek Construction of Green Bay is currently constructing a new frontage road off of STH 107, and extending water and sewer lines into the northern business park. Once the project is completed, public utilities will extend from STH 107 all the way to 152nd Avenue, and from STH 29 north to the new frontage road, opening up over 200 acres for future development.