Goals:
Wright County was looking for professional services to help them determine the best redevelopment option for the former Government Services Center located in downtown Buffalo, MN.
IAG Commercial, in partnership with WSB & Associates, were hired to assist Wright County with redevelopment options for the former Government Services Center.
The former Government Services Center is located within the core of the City of Buffalo and overlooks Lake Buffalo. Wright County was the largest employer in the downtown area and with their departure to the new government services center on the outskirts of Buffalo, the economic impact was going to be significant to the downtown area. Many of the local services businesses, affiliated with the government services, were also going to be relocating closer to the new center. While the property was owned by the county, the City of Buffalo owned some surrounding properties that complimented the site. Subsequently, the City was invited to be involved in the process to assure a complementary use to their proposed 2040 guide plan. Last, there were many “stakeholders” that demanded a voice and the county wanted to accommodate these requests. This included area businesses, adjacent residential neighborhoods, and the respective government officials and special interest groups.
In partnership with WSB & Associates, IAG Commercial was hired to facilitate the stakeholder meetings, summarize “highest and best use” findings, provide twenty-year tax modeling of such findings, and present the findings to the County and City leaders.
After conducting seven (7) stakeholder meetings, ranging in size from five to twelve people, it was determined that three options should be considered:
1. Raze the current structures and develop new mixed-use housing with some complementary retail and green space.
2. Sell the buildings “as-is” to a buyer who will address the critical capital and cosmetic improvements, only.
3. Sell the buildings “as-is” to a buyer who would remodel with significant improvements and upgrades to the properties.
With these three agreed upon solutions, IAG Commercial led the effort to provide a twenty (20) year tax yield on these three options and then recommending what IAG Commercial believed to be the “highest and best use” for the site. This included insight of market conditions with a balance to the twenty (20) year tax benefit.
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