The Wisconsin Legislature Budget Committee awarded the sale of two downtown state-owned land plots earlier this month to two local developers — laying the groundwork for planned construction of apartments and commercial properties.
In a 13-1 vote, the committee voted to sell the land — located at 101 and 125 South Webster St. — to Mark and Brad Binkowski for $12,650,000. The sale falls under the purview of Vision 2030, a state action seeking to downsize office space, add state employees that work outside Madison, save tax dollars and drive economic activity.
An analysis from the Department of Administration found the selected bid price decreased 74.1% from the average appraised property value of $48,925,000.
Senator Kelda Roys was the sole dissent. Though not opposed to the sale as a whole, Roys told The Daily Cardinal state leaders should have “exercised caution” around assigning the value of the properties.
“It was just a fraction of the appraised value,” Roys said. “And to me, that indicates there’s a real question about what the value of the properties are.”
The drop in price takes costs associated with developing the land into account, according to the request for sale.
“I think the bar for selling state assets should be pretty high, particularly when it’s this valuable — you know, this close to the state capital,” Roys said.
The state originally listed the properties for sale in March of 2026. Two state office buildings — General Executive Facility 2 (GEF-2) and General Executive Facility 3 (GEF-3) — sit on the land.
GEF-2 currently houses the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), while GEF-3 previously housed the Department of Public Instruction, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) and the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board.
OCI — the final state agency to hold residence in GEF-3 — vacated the premises in November 2024, while DNR plans to end its downtown service in GEF-2 on Sept. 30.
A 2022 Department of Administration study estimated it would need to spend $2.5 million per year to continue to own and maintain the vacant buildings. Additionally, it would take over $213 million to bring the structures “up to code and to implement mechanical, plumbing, electrical and communications, and electronic security upgrades that would allow the building to function safely.”
Money garnered from the pending sale will go towards paying off remaining property mortgages and high-interest state debt before being added to the general fund.
Mark Binkowski, the buyer, told the Cardinal his firm plans to retrofit GEF-2 into mixed-use, market-rate housing with a ground-floor available for market use, while completely redeveloping GEF-3.
“Our current vision for the project is that all of the units will be market rate,” Binkowski said. “As far as specifics on pricing [and] rent level, we’re still too early in the process to have much detail on that.”
He said he sees the sale as an opportunity to turn the “underused” property into a “much more attractive, vibrant destination.”
“Madison still has a housing shortage across all spectrums and types — which is one of the reasons why the cost of housing is high in Madison,” Binkowski said. “Adding additional housing density is really important for the city to continue addressing that challenge.”
Roys said while she ultimately wants the project to be successful, her role in the committee is one that both “gets the best deal” for taxpayers and “makes good, long-term decisions for the state,” stressing the importance of looking ahead towards the needs of future governments.
“I think we should also have a little bit of humility about the fact that the State’s current space needs may look wildly different 50 or 100 years from now,” Roys said. “Once you sell off prime real estate a block from the Capitol, it’s pretty hard to get it back.”
Binkowski told the Cardinal he anticipates closing the sale sometime this fall.
Ted Hyngstrom is a staff writer. He formerly served as the Podcast Editor, and has covered a variety of city and campus issues. You can follow him on X at @NuffTed.
