A Nevada developer is working with the Village of Pleasant Prairie to turn the 198-acre site of the shuttered We Energies power plant into an industrial park that it expects to be worth $226 million.
In planning documents released Friday, village planners proposed creating a tax increment finance district (TID) to facilitate the development.
We Energies shuttered the coal-fired power plant at 8000 95th St. in 2018, and previously announced plans to demolish the buildings left on the property for a then unnamed-buyer.
According to planning documents, that buyer is a limited liability company affiliated with Reno-based Dermody Properties, which has a contract to purchase 198 acres of We Energies property.
The industrial park is expected to include three Class A industrial buildings, totaling more than 2.28 million square feet, and the dedication of approximately two acres to the village for a park designed to illustrate the history and economic impact of the We Energies site on Pleasant Prairie.
The site is close to Union Pacific and the Canadian Pacific rail lines. Additionally, the property’s adjacency to the We Energies substation creates the opportunity to provide significant power to the property, planning documents state. The village would provide water access to development.
The completed construction value of the project is expected to be approximately $214.14 million by the end of 2025, with anticipated market value of over $226 million after market stabilization at the end of 2026.
“While the proposed particular building layout is subject to modification in response to particular user requirements, for example changing a building size to add rail access, Dermody Properties is committed to building no less than 2 million square feet in total, with a completed fair market value of no less than $187.14 million,” a planning document states.
The entire TIF district would cover 417 acres on land generally located north of104th Street (with four parcels located south of 104th Street), south of Bain Station Road, east of Terwall Terrace, and west of the Union Pacific Railroad.
As part of the industrial park development, Dermody would install public utilities and a new road between 95th Street and to the northern end of the site, immediately upon closing, the village states. A private roadway, for emergency access, would also be created to connect 95th Street to Bain Station Road, to give the property and surrounding areas a secondary access it did not have before. Up to five intersections would be studied for potential improvement.
The TIF district would be used finance these improvements, reimbursing Demody for the money it spends up front to pay for such infrastructure expenses. But planning documents do not indicate how much money the village might have to pay to fund any village related expenses related to the development.
The village’s Plan Commission is slated to set the boundaries for the proposed TID when it meets on Monday. A public hearing on the proposal would then be scheduled for July 18.
