Economic Development

Downtown Building Façade Renovation Loan Program

The City of Washburn is pleased to announce the establishment of the Downtown Building Façade Renovation Loan Program. The City’s intent in establishing this loan fund is to encourage downtown business owners to undertake business facade improvements. Physical improvements to structures downtown will assist in spurring economic vitality downtown. By improving the exteriors of commercial buildings downtown, the City will enhance the appearance of the downtown and the community as a whole overall. The resulting effect will be the attraction of new businesses to downtown and to the community as well as the retention and expansion of existing businesses.

Complete applications must be received by the second Wednesday of the month to be acted upon by the Washburn Development Authority.

For more information: Downtown Building Facade Renovation Loan Program Policy Guidelines (PDF format, 115 kb)

To apply: Loan Application (PDF format, 180 kb)

For more information please contact Scott Kluver, City Administrator at 373-6160 Ext. 4 or by e-mail at washburnadmin@charter.net

City Real Property for Sale

This section contains real properties for sale that are owned by the City of Washburn. Each year the City will review all of its properties to determine which lands are available for sale. For each property listed for sale, an appraisal must be conducted. Those appraisals are listed below as well as any certified surveys that have been conducted on the listed properties.

It is important to note the zoning for each particular property. That is the best indication as to what type of development the property is best suited for.

The City Administrator is authorized to negotiate the sale of any parcel included on the for sale list, subject to any conditions attached to the parcel’s listing, and subject to the review by the Plan Commission and final approval by the Common Council.

To place an offer or to discuss any particular property, please contact the City Administrator by calling 715-373-6160 ext. 4, P.O. Box 638 Washburn, WI 54891, or by e-mail at washburnadmin@charter.net .

For a detailed map of city properties, download the Property Inventory (PDF format, 391 kb).

Appraisals:

Please note that these are detailed appraisals in PDF format. Except for parcel 62 (147 kb), most files are approximately seven to eight megabytes in size, and will require extended download times on slow connections.

Parcel 8 (1.52 acres, zoned residential) Site Plan

Parcel 62 (0.24 acres, zoned Institutional, adjacent to Downtown Commercial)

Parcel 16 (1.26 acres, 1 and 2 family residential)

Parcels 79 & 80 (0.71 acre, 1 and 2 family residential)

Parcel 35 (0.62 acre, 1 and 2 family residential)

Parcel 20 (approx. 2 acres, waterfront commercial)

Parcel 23 (1.26 acres, waterfront recreational - please note that acreage figure of 1.78 listed in appraisal is incorrect)

Parcel 25 (1.17 acres, waterfront commercial)

Parcel 26 (3.46 acres, waterfront commercial)

Parcel 29 (single lot, waterfront residential)

Parcel 31 (0.689 acres, waterfront commercial)

Parcel 65 (single lot, residential)

Note: A reconfiguration has taken place on Parcels #20 and #26. They should be cross-referenced with the County Survey Map #1636 and are now listed as Lot #10 (Parcel 20), and Lots #11 and 12 (Parcel 26) on that map.

Download County Survey Map #1636 (PDF format, 420kb)

Community Development Block Grants

The Wisconsin Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, administered by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, provides local government with funds to use for economic development, more specifically, for business start-ups and expansion. These funds, received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, are used to provide grants to local units of government that use the funds to loan to a business. The business, in return for use of the public funds, provides private investment towards the assisted activity and most importantly creates job opportunities, principally for the benefit of low and moderate persons.

When a business repays the community the loan (principal and interest payments), these funds are used to capitalize a local revolving loan fund (RLF). With the RLF, the community can make additional loans to businesses wishing to expand or locate in the community. These loans typically are smaller loans ($5,000-$50,000). When successfully administered, the community's revolving loan fund can expand the amount in its RLF to an amount in excess of the original amount it was able to retain. This happens when the community exercises due diligence by performing a thorough credit analysis to determine business viability and adequately securing and servicing the loan. In administering a RLF, a Community becomes a "bank" and accepts all of the responsibilities of a commercial lender when it makes a CDBG or RLF loan to a business.

For more information, please download:

Revolving Loan Fund- Policies And Procedures Manual (PDF format, 188 kb)

To apply:

Revolving Loan Fund Application (PDF format, 96 kb)