Ballpark Commons wants extra $5M

Developers seeking additional city cash for ‘unforeseen’ expenses

Franklin’s Ballpark Commons mixed-use development is seeking another $5.2 million in city financing help — beyond $22.5 million already approved.

Roc Ventures LLC, led by developer Mike Zimmerman, is seeking the additional cash because of “increases in unforeseen development expenses,” according to a city report.

Zimmerman’s firm also wants to add another property, a site his firm bought from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, to the tax incremental financing district at Ballpark Commons.

Development on that site, as well as plans to increase the size of some of Ballpark Commons’ buildings, would generate more property tax revenue.

That new property tax revenue would pay for the $5.2 million that Zimmerman is seeking, according to an initial forecast by Roc Ventures.

The firm this year began constructing new roads, sewers, a methane venting system and other infrastructure, as well as the development’s signature baseball stadium and a retail/office building. Roc Ventures is seeing an infrastructure cost increase in part because of “a substantial increase in the scope of the project” since the initial city financing plan was approved in 2016, Zimmerman wrote in an Aug. 23 letter to Franklin Mayor Steve Olson.

Zimmerman’s letter also mentioned “additional requirements of several governmental agencies, including the City, and WE Energies.”

Finally, construction costs are facing general increases because of higher regional demand for such services, the letter said.

Zimmerman called it the “Foxconn effect” — a reference to Foxconn Technology Group’s large manufacturing complex under construction in Mount Pleasant.

Zimmerman wasn’t immediately available Wednesday to provide more information about the financing request.

Olson, in an interview, said Roc Ventures plans to add buildings to the former DOT parcel, as well as add more space to buildings already planned at Ballpark Commons.

That includes adding another level to the development’s sports performance center, Olson said.

Any additional spending at Ballpark Commons would need Common Council approval. The council, at its Tuesday night meeting, approved a proposal to hire Ehlers Inc. to study Zimmerman’s request. Ehlers is the same consulting firm the city hired to help create the tax incremental financing district for Ballpark Commons.

Much of Ballpark Commons is being developed next to The Rock, an outdoor sports complex that Zimmerman operates north of West Rawson Avenue and west of West Loomis Road.

The Common Council in 2016 approved plans for spending up to $26.8 million to help finance Ballpark Commons.

A city study estimated Ballpark Commons would have property values totaling $101.2 million by 2021 if it is fully developed.

The new property taxes generated by Ballpark Commons would pay back the city’s funds by 2034, the study said.