We Energies is seeking approval from state regulators to build a new service center in West Bend, consolidating an existing service center in the city and another one located in Port Washington. The new roughly 60,000-square-foot service center would be located on 19.5 acres on Trenton Road, just south of Highway 33 in the eastern
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A CVG Architects rendering of the proposed West Bend Service Center. Source: PSC documents.[/caption]
The existing West Bend service center is almost 38,000 square feet. it was built in 1966, has never undergone significant renovation and is due for a complete overhaul, according to the PSC documents. The property is also in the middle of a tax incremental financing district. Development plans include an assisted living and elderly independent housing development along with additional residential development.
“These conditions present considerable challenges when considering the future operations at this site and substantially impairs, if not outright negate, the viability of remodeling and/or expanding the existing facility,” the documents say.
The Port Washington service center is a little more than 30,000 square feet. It was built in 1993 and also has not undergone significant renovation or expansion. It is sufficiently sized and improvements could be made, but the costs are greater than the potential benefit of combining the two service centers, We Energies says.
Doing nothing would still come with around $7 million in capital renewal costs. Renovating both service centers would cost around $21 million, but also includes risks of “a potential protracted legal battle with the city” because of the TID and would not generate efficiencies from combining the service areas, the company says. Building a smaller West Bend center and renovating the Port Washington center would come with a $32 million price tag.