GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt met with a few city council members Tuesday to discuss "options" for the Larsen Green site.
Alderman Joe Moore attended a meeting with Mayor Schmitt and the city planning department.
"Mayor Schmitt had pulled out the original documentation of the City of Green Bay backing the loan by On Broadway, Inc. from 2007," says Moore. "And giving us an explanation of why we backed that loan."
Moore says the planning department, and Community Development Director Kim Flom, took over. They unveiled renderings of possible mixed-use development for the Broadway District site.
"The renderings they showed had an approximate value of $30 million in economic development," says Moore. "There's very obvious long-term benefit to the yearly taxes, the question I've got is how much city investment is it going to take to get to that point?"
Moore says they also displayed a chart showing the tax base potential short term versus long-term on that site.
"One of the biggest questions that we have been getting is 'if not Walmart, then what' and I think city staff has got what our vision is," Moore says. "There's no developer, there's no money, there's no backing...it's just renderings and drawings."
It's unclear what Mayor Schmitt will show the public when he holds a press conference originally scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
The city would gain control of the property if On Broadway, Inc. defaults on their bank loan by missing two consecutive payments.
But the city council could still approve a rezoning of the site to allow for Walmart to build a Supercenter. The retail giant is proposing a 154,000 square foot store with more than 600 parking spaces.
On Monday night, the Plan Commission voted 3-2 against a rezoning of the PUD. It's a vote that Moore feels is still up in the air.
"I think that it's a 6-6, 7-5 or 5-7...I think there are some wild cards in there," Moore says. "You know if it's 6-6, I don't believe it'll get voted through. I think the Mayor would cast the deciding vote. If it's 7-5, I think that he'll allow the council to make the decision."