Master developer announced for massive Riverside North property in La Crosse

A developer has been picked for development of a major tract of land in the middle of La Crosse.

WiRED Properties from Milwaukee has been selected to be the master developer on the chunk of property known as Riverside North but is more commonly referred to as the old Mobil Oil site.

It’s about 26 acres of developable property in a much larger area, much of which was industrial sites, some owned by Exxon Mobil.

And there’s some irony there for WiRED Properties president Blair Williams (right). 

“This is going to be almost like the feather in my cap with my relationship with Exxon Mobil,” Williams joked at Thursday’s announcement. “I killed two Mobil gas stations for previous developments and this is like the mother load of Mobil gas stations to kill.”

Williams added that he wouldn’t be blazing new trails at the site based on his own ideas.

“The city of La Crosse itself has expressions of what it would like to see here and it’s our job to help realize that through partnership with other developers in order to encourage that activity,” he said.

In addition to WiRED, Rinka Chung was named as an architect for the site and Short Elliot Hendrickson will be the engineer.

The announcement is a game changer, said Mayor Tim Kabat.

“We’re really now open for development,” Kabat said. “I think you can say that without sounding too cliche.

“Up to this point, we spent so much time acquiring the site, cleaning it up, doing the plans, trying to engage the community in what they’d like to see there. Well, now this stuff today starts that whole development piece.”

WiRED could be paid up to about $1 million in total fees under the development agreement, based on the value of development property at Riverside North.