Mayor Paul Soglin, city officials and the fire department met for an informational meeting Monday on a proposed building on the 300 block of West Johnson and Dayton streets next to a Madison Fire Department fire house.
Hovde Properties introduced a proposal for a mixed-use building, which includes 150 residential apartments targeted at young, urban professionals, parking and retail space.
The city asked the developers to include a new fire station and administration space in their plan, to replace the station located next to the proposed building.
Madison Fire Department Chief Steven Davis said the current fire station facilities would need to be replaced in 10 years, require expensive repairs and are over crowded.
Mayor Paul Soglin supported the plan and said it would cost the city more to buy a new property for the fire station.
“We’re going to have to find a new site for the station,” Mayor Paul Soglin said. “Given the cost of the downtown plan and size of facility we need, that’s going to be really daunting.”
While the city would pay for the new facilities, there is currently no plan for how the project would be funded, and the city may have to borrow between $3.1 and $7 million.
Hovde Properties president Mike Slavish said the company is excited about the opportunity, but they need a decision from the city soon in order to stay within the project’s deadlines.
“[The city] needs to get to a comfort level that they can allocate sufficient funds to ultimately buy this project once construction is completed,” Slavish said.
