Wausau committee votes to terminate ground lease, developer agreement with Riverlife Villages partners

By Shereen Siewert

WAUSAU — Following a closed session on Tuesday, members of Wausau’s economic development committee voted to terminate the ground lease and developer agreements with the current development team for the troubled Riverlife Villages Phase I project.

The vote, if approved by the full council, paves the way for the city to move forward with a new development partner for the project, which has become mired in legal and financial difficulties since March.

The current ground lease holder and developer of record is Barker Financial, LLC, according to city documents, though city council members approved Quantum Ventures as a new developer in January. But no exit agreement was ever signed by Barker and the city does not have a current signed development or ground lease agreement with Quantum Ventures. Mike Frantz of Quantum Ventures spoke to the council on multiple occasions in 2018 as the developer in charge of the mixed-use development. Both Barker Financial and Quantum Ventures are named in multiple construction liens filed against the project.

But now, it appears the city will begin anew. City staff will now go back to three developers who expressed interest in the riverfront redevelopment in letters of interest received in August. Two of those developers would take over the current development in some form, while the third outlined a plan for condominiums adjacent to the Riverlife Villages Phase I project.

Copies of those proposals are available online.

Committee members did not say how the city intends to deal with millions of dollars in liens filed against the current project. All defaults were to be cleared by Aug. 22 and remain unpaid to date.

Mayor Rob Mielke, in a news release issued Tuesday afternoon, insisted the project remains marketable and said the city is “pleased that the private development side will continue moving forward as soon as possible with new partners.”