SPSD approves land sale

Sauk Prairie School District finally approved its blockbuster land sale and housing development with HC Properties at their meeting on Monday night, voting unanimously to approve the $2.2 million dollar sale. The land near the Sauk Prairie Hospital Campus in Prairie du Sac will be turned into around 350 housing units. 114 of those will be available for rent at or below marking price. 180 will rent at market rate, and there will be 60 condominiums. The initial vote was slated for a few weeks ago, but there have been minor delays as both sides worked on the deal. The sale will be contingent on the Village of Prairie du Sac’s approval of the plans, expected to be by the Fall. Here are the details:   What is the District getting for the land? $2.2 million paid to the District at closing. Two apartments provided to the District at no cost (other than utilities) for 10 years. These could be rented to staff or could house a visiting teacher/artist in residence/etc. These funds will be placed in a Fund 49 account and cannot be spent on salaries or programs. (Spending on programs would not be allowed by state statute and would negatively affect the amount the District gets in state aid as determined by the funding formula set by the State of Wisconsin.) The interest-earning account will help position the District for long-term land purchases and other capital projects.   What does “below market rate” mean? Sauk Prairie needs housing of all kinds. A housing study completed by Sauk County identified the greatest need in Sauk Prairie to be high-quality apartments for essential workers, young professionals, etc. and condominium housing similar to that in the Risley Oaks/Risley Court development off of PF/Prairie Street near the Highway 60 bridge in Prairie du Sac. This development focuses on these two types of housing. “Below Market Rate” housing in this development is not low-income housing – although more low income housing is certainly needed in our region. Rents in this part of the development are set several hundred dollars lower than rents for comparable rentals in our area – especially for new construction with in-unit laundry. The starting rents are: a studio at $850, a one bedroom apartment at $1,050 and a two bedroom apartment at $1,250. Rents are scheduled to increase at minimal levels and are set for 10 years after opening as part of the developer’s agreement with the District.   Who are the developers? The developers (HC Properties) are a combined effort by three independent construction firms that have pooled resources to build and manage apartments and homes in the greater Madison area. In Sauk Prairie, HC Properties already owns and manages a multi-story commercial and residential building along the river in Sauk City. In addition to their housing company, one of the partners owns an HVAC company, another an earthwork and landscaping company, and the third a flooring company.   Doesn’t the District need this land? No. The original thought when the District purchased this land was to buy additional land near it in the future. These parcels are no longer available due to the hospital’s relocation and the new park. Additionally, the District chose to build Bridges Elementary at Broadway and 13th Street instead of using this parcel and decided to renovate the existing high school instead of building a new one on empty land. The decision to renovate instead of building a new school saved the District millions of dollars since a new high school would need all of the items (like the auditorium, library, gyms, cafeteria, classrooms, etc.) that the current building has. The renovated high school will continue to be Sauk Prairie’s high school for generations to come.   What is the development timeline written in the agreement between the developers and the District? By no later than April 1, 2026, developer shall have constructed at least 90 workforce apartment units. The developer shall construct at least 60 market value condominium units no later than December 31, 2028 with the first five lots constructed and sold by April 1, 2026 and the remaining units constructed in phases based on sales.   What is the total cost of the development? The developers anticipate a $71,000,000 total investment in the project.