Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels
Manitowoc is not alone when it comes to dealing with vacant properties not owned by the city. Two such entities brought up by citizens are the former Shopko building and Mid-Cities mall property .
Mayor Justin Nickels says progress is slow in regards to Shopko.
“We’re working with the current broker for potentially dividing that lot,” he explained. “We don’t expect another large retailer to locate there. The overall parking space may not be needed and would be advantageous for the owner to sell land closer to Calumet to have future businesses growth on Calumet.”
As for the Mid-Cities mall property, Nickels says it could take some time before anything moves forward.
“There’s a lot of natural beauty at the Mid-Cities site to be taken advantage of but it’s not located where a major retailer prefers,” Mayor Nickels said. “What’s currently at the former Elk’s Club Site is what you’d like to transfer over to the Mid-Cities site. Once the Elk’s site gets rolling I feel that will make the Mid-Cities site more valuable.”
A blight assessment has begun there with the Mayor feeling that a combination of retail and residential is likely which he says would be beneficial to the city’s tax base.
