City OKs Purchase Agreement For Oakview Business Park Land

OAK CREEK, WI — The City of Oak Creek Common Council adopted resolutions on Tuesday that approve the purchase sale agreements for two large plots of land in Oak Creek that could be used as the city chooses down the road.

One property, at the Oakview Business Park, would allow the city to seek a buyer that not only provides a tax base, but one that is also a manufacturer that can provide sound and stable wages, City Administrator Andrew Vickers said in the meeting.

"This is an investment, this is how we control our own destiny," Mayor Daniel Bukiewicz said in the meeting. "This strategy has made Oak Creek successful in the past."

The approvals would close out the city's partnership with WisPark LLC by securing the final two pieces of property the group owns in the city, and it will allow for the city to have more control in the final outcome of what happens to the properties, Vickers said.

The purchase closings have been set for Feb. 18. The 10304 South Oakview Parkway property would have a purchase price of $2,084,648 and the purchase price for the about 46-acre plot at 8850 South 5th Avenue would be $891,000, according to city documents.

The agreement comes after the plots' owner, Wispark LLC, has started to divest from real estate holdings, including land in Oak Creek. As the company's divestment strategy unfolded, it did not seem to align with the goals and strategies that the council had for the pieces of land for the community, Vickers said.

"What we're talking about here is really acquiring a piece of property at Oakview Business Park and a 46-acre parcel on the lakefront," Vickers said.

Vickers said Wispark LLC, which has had a good relationship with the city, could have sold the lot multiple times, but the group hasn't because potential buyers have fallen short of the city's expectations.

The approximately 15-acre Oakview lot is a strategic purchase primarily because it will allow the city to have the patience to find a "better and higher user than what we are seeing" in other parts of the business park, Vickers said.

A lot nearby the Oakview land, owned by Anderson Ashton Design Build, may be used in conjunction for a future development, the Milwaukee Business Journal reported. The combined plots could be marketed as a 40-acre property that can hold up to 600,00 square feet of industrial space, the report said.

"You don't find many 40 acres parcels of land in green field development in Milwaukee County that are still available," Vickers said.