| On February 1, 2000, MR/BK, LLC purchased property
within the Village of Arlington, WI in Columbia County from the Del
Monte Corporation at 622 E. Main Street. The Village of Arlington, which
is only 20 miles northwest of Madison, is located at the intersection of
US 51 and STH 60 and is just 4 miles east of I-39, 90, 94. This purchase
added another piece to the puzzle in bringing the first ever
Industrial/Business Park to the Village of Arlington. Prior to the MR/BK,
LLC purchase, the Village had set up a Tax Incremental Financing
district that encompassed much of the property, as well as a 180-acre
parcel of property owned by Thomas & Patricia Mair. At the time of the
formation of the TIF district, the Village also annexed the 180-acre
parcel owned by the Mair's into the Village. Soon after the TIF district
had been formed and the 180-acre parcel had been annexed, the Village
received development rights from the Mair's to develop the 180-acre
parcel. Later in the year 2000, MR/BK purchased those rights from the
Village of Arlington.
The first item that came across the agenda of MR/BK,
LLC was to find tenants for the thousands of available square feet
within the property and to find businesses that could use the existing
1,500 feet of railroad spur operated by Canadian Pacific. A start-up
steel fabricating firm, Skyline Steel, became the first occupant in the
"former Del Monte site". Skyline occupies building #4, located in Lot 3,
a massive 43,200 square foot concrete structure located along a portion
of the 1,500 feet of existing railroad spur.
The next project that MR/BK, LLC partook was the
demolition and cleaning up of the property. Several of the existing
buildings were considered blighted and unusable. These buildings
included a former sauerkraut processing building, corn processing
structure, boiler house and several out-buildings. After we razed these
buildings, we crushed the brick and concrete and used the crushed stone
to raise and level off the sites. During the process of demolition, we
also removed several water lines, utility poles and natural gas lines.
These items were all restored to the buildings that continue to remain
on the property.
Early in the fall of 2000, MR/BK, LLC began the first
of two construction projects inside the park. Bio Cascade, a recently
formed biotechnology firm, purchased the former 2,600 square foot
cafeteria along with approximately an acre of property from MR/BK, LLC.
Following the sale of the property, Bio Cascade contracted MR/BK, LLC to
renovate the building. This project was completed January 31, 2001, with
a few outdoor items to be completed in the spring. The other major
project that MR/BK, LLC started in the fall of 2000 was the construction
of a 200' x 200' pre-engineered steel structure. The building was
completed in the beginning of February 2001, with an additional 40,000
SF addition completed in 2001.
With a solid infrastructure now in the park, and more
on the way, we are able to market more property and services than we
ever have in the past. We remain focused on working with clients,
no matter how large or small, by helping them establish a productive
work environment in the Arlington Prairie Industrial Park. We hope
when you consider your next expansion, you will keep us in mind. |
