For a limited time only, the city of Merrill is offering the Lincoln House for sale for $1. But there’s a catch.
“We’ll offer them a building for a buck, and they have to come in with a demolition plan and proposal to redevelop the site,” explained Mayor Bill Bialecki.
Last Tuesday night, the city’s Committee of the Whole chose to reject a bid of $156,000 for asbestos abatement and demolition of the Lincoln House. The bid was reasonable, Bialecki noted, but the Committee opted to try enticing a developer to take over the site.
Would-be developers need to submit their plans to the city by Aug. 31. If there are no takers, the city will re-bid for demolition and have the building taken down before offering the empty lot for sale.
Current tenants in the Lincoln House, which includes two apartment renters and WJMT radio station, will receive notices on June 1 to vacate the building.
The city has received a $186,000 insurance settlement after the Lincoln House suffered water damage in February. A broken water pipe on the third floor caused significant flooding of the lower floors. Insurance covered the $56,000 to remediate the water damage, and will pay the city another $130,000 which can be used as the city sees fit. The city had considered using that $130,000 toward paying for the demolition of the building. City Administrator David Johnson noted that the insurance money will still be available this fall if the city does not receive any viable development proposals.
The city purchased the Lincoln House in 2011 from Bank of Wausau for $150,000 with the intent of finding a developer to rehabilitate the structure. The cost was found to be millions of dollars and would-be developers were unsuccessful in securing fund from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.