Sell It or Raze It: Fate of Former M&I Building Finally Decided

Port Washington aldermen approved an agreement Wednesday night between the city and the owners of the former M&I buildings at 122 N. Franklin St., that gives the owners six months to sell the property.

If Port Harbor Investment LLC is unable to sell the property, the buildings will have to be razed, under the deal.

“This comes out of many, many hours of sitting down with this group (and discussing options),” Alderman Michael Ehrlich said, “and this is something that — it’s a last chance to get this thing saved.”

The deal sets some guidelines for the selling process, while also laying out a plan of action if the buildings are ultimately razed — putting the responsibility of maintaining the flattened property on Port Harbor.

Upon execution of the agreement, Port Harbor must list the property for sale with a Wisconsin licensed commercial real estate broker and must give the name and address of this broker to city officials. 

The agreement calls for the company to put forth its best efforts to sell the property for a reasonable price through the entire six months. If an interested buyer comes forward, Port Harbor must inform the city promptly.

Under the agreement, Port Harbor will not be asked to make any repairs to the building during the six-month selling period, unless those repairs are necessary for the health and safety of the public, City Attorney Eric Eberhardt explained.

If, after six months, an interested buyer has not come forward with an offer, Port Harbor will be responsible for the costs of razing the buildings.  The demolition must then be completed within 45 days.

The company must also plant, grow and maintain a grass yard in the area that will remain upon demolition, and will be responsible for salting and shoveling the property's sidewalks. The agreement calls for a "letter of credit in favor of and payable to the city ... in the sum of $4,000, to provide financial guarantee for the performance of the work described."

in December 2007, with plans to renovate the area into a more useful downtown structure. But the buildings are in disrepair and pose a potential danger to people walking by them.

Port Harbor never followed through on its promise to repair the buildings and the city filed a lawsuit in November 2008 asking that the buildings be declared a public nuisance, which meant a judge could order it repaired or razed.

Eberhardt with Port Harbor in the lawsuit against the company in February, under which the company agreed to raze the buildings at 122 N. Franklin St. between March 1 and April 15.  In return, the city would drop the suit.

But the council refused to approve that agreement and instead asked Eberhardt to research more appealing options.

Aldermen went into closed session during several council meetings to discuss the legal options available to the city in regard to the lawsuit and saving the buildings — something many alderman are hopeful can still happen.

"I really don’t think there's going to be a lot of effort put into the sale, just based on what I’m seeing," Alderman David Larson said.

Because of that, he urged community members to get involved and come forward in the attempt to save the historic buildings and avoid creating a hole in downtown Port.

"(I hope we can) do our best as a community to try to sell it — if there is someone out there that’s truly interested in renovating it and making it look nice, please come forward," he said.

Port Harbor Investment is also responsible for paying several fees incurred throughout the lawsuit, totaling $12,541, in addition to $11,000 that Eberhardt said was paid for city attorney's fees last year.