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City looking into possible purchase of Blackhawk Junction

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The west side of Blackhawk Junction Mall houses four businesses including Suppz Gym, Mississippi Meats, H&R Block and Associated Bank.

 

By Ted Pennekamp

 

The Crawford County Delinquent Tax Committee was told Thursday afternoon that the city of Prairie du Chien might be interested in the purchase of Blackhawk Junction Mall.

“The city proposes buying the property from the county as soon as possible,” said Driftless Development Director Jim Bowman during the committee’s meeting. Bowman went on to tell the committee that the Redevelopment Authority is putting together the funding to begin the redevelopment process and the environmental clean-up of the property.

When asked by the committee if the city has the funding to buy the property, Bowman said, “The city has the wherewithal to pay for the property.”

Bowman later told the Courier Press that he was not representing the city when he had been speaking to the committee.

The county took over ownership of Blackhawk Junction Mall in May of 2019 after the previous owner, Blackhawk Junction LLC of Madison, failed to pay $569,000 in back property taxes and penalties.

During the committee meeting Thursday afternoon, it was noted that an attorney for Blackhawk Junction LLC, Leonard Leverson, had recently contacted the county asking for an extension so that Blackhawk Junction LLC could pay all of their back taxes and penalties so that they could get Blackhawk Junction Mall back. It was also stated that Blackhawk Junction LLC “had investors on the table.”

“Gialamas might not pay his taxes again,” said committee member Buzz Esser should the committee decide to give Blackhawk Junction LLC an extension to get the property back. Thomas Gialamas is one of the partners of Blackhawk Junction LLC. Gialamas was instrumental in purchasing the former Commerce Court Mall in 2006 and renaming it Blackhawk Junction Mall.

Crawford County Board member Duane Rogers reminded the committee that the county recently gave a six-month commitment to the city of Prairie du Chien to have the city and Vandewalle Associates of Madison conduct a study and create a strategic development plan for the property.

In choosing between Blackhawk Junction LLC and the city, Rogers said, “I will go to bat for the city.” Rogers and others cited the bad track record on the part of Blackhawk Junction LLC, not only in not paying their property taxes, but also in providing really bad service to the tenants of Blackhawk Junction Mall. There are four businesses remaining as tenants of the mall.

“The city is willing to work with the county to discuss terms and conditions,” said Bowman regarding a purchase agreement. “We would like a development we can be proud of and that would generate more property taxes for the county and create more jobs.”

Following a closed session, the committee voted unanimously to honor its commitment to the city of Prairie du Chien and to deny the request by Blackhawk Junction LLC for an extension.

During the closed session, outside of the meeting room, Bowman said if the city were to purchase Blackhawk Junction Mall, it would be only temporary. He said the city would clean up a contaminated part of the property and also restore damaged portions of the vacant buildings of the mall to make the property attractive to private entities who might be interested in buying the property.

A day after the meeting, City Administrator Chad Abram said Vandewalle Associates is expected to have a draft of the strategic development plan by next week.

The strategic development plan or plan by the city to purchase Blackhawk Junction Mall would have to be approved by the City Council before the plan or a purchase agreement could move forward.

“The plan is a critical path for the redevelopment strategy for the Blackhawk Junction property,” said Abram. “We are highly interested in pursuing development of Blackhawk Junction Mall. It is a great spot for business development or residential development.”

Abram also said the city will work with the current tenants to help ensure that the tenants will remain. He said the city will not sell the property to a developer who would evict the tenants.

Blackhawk Junction Mall is located at 700 E. Blackhawk Ave., Prairie du Chien. Blackhawk Junction Mall has an assessed value of $3,349,500. The total acreage is 9.131.

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