Beaver Dam Commerce Park

The Beaver Dam Commerce Park is a new, 350-plus-acre business park, of which 280 acres comprise a Certified Site in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, which is conveniently located between three major metropolitan markets: Madison, Milwaukee and Fond du Lac. Situated along U.S. Highway 151 at Hemlock Road and county highways A and W, this location is one of Wisconsin’s largest available industrial sites. The prime location offers exceptional access to Wisconsin’s vast and skilled workforce, with an available labor pool of 223,727 within a 45-minute drive radius of the site. Businesses located in the park can reach over 50% of the U.S. population within one day’s truck delivery drive time and 75% within two days. The Beaver Dam Commerce Park offers scalable opportunities for users of all sizes and is shovel-ready. Beaver Dam Commerce Park brochure

Site Features & Contact

280 acres of buildable land across five parcels

No significant topography issues

Proximity to interstate and other highways

No utility easements that would prevent development

Commercial airport access

Freight airport access

Rail access (not required)

No known environmental impediments to immediate industrial development

No known archaeological/historical impediments to immediate industrial development

No known impediments to immediate development related to endangered species

American Land Trust Association (ALTA) survey

Fire insurance classification rating 3

Site not located on or adjacent to flood plain

Industrial zoning

Flight path certifications not proximate of any airport

No wetlands within buildable acreage

Coleman Peiffer
Alliant Energy

608.458.5604

colemanpeiffer@alliantenergy.com
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Community Intro

Requirement Comments

Community overview

  • General community fit for industrial activity
  • City of Beaver Dam is a community of ~16,000 people located in Dodge County, Wisconsin. The estimated population of Dodge County is ~90,000.
  • Beaver Dam (population: ~16,000) along with Hartford (population: ~14,000) make up a large portion of the population of Dodge County.
  • Manufacturing, distribution, and food processing are the region’s major industrial sectors, and the largest industrial employer in Beaver Dam is the Walmart Distribution Center with over 700 employees (575 in the warehouse and 135 in the transportation unit).
  • Manufacturing in Beaver Dam includes Kraft Foods (food processing/cheese manufacturing) with an estimated employment of 250-500 employees; Apache Stainless Equipment (stainless vessel manufacturing, 100-250 employees); A.B. Sealer (packaging machinery manufacturing, 100-250 employees); and Northwoods Paper Converting (paper converting and sheeting, 100-250 employees).
  • The employers that have recently expanded operations in the area include Metalcraft of Mayville (metal fabrication and related work), which doubled their employment from 75 to 150) and ConAgra, which acquired a food processing operation and is expanding operations there.
  • Madison metro area growth (including the suburb of Sun Prairie) is positively impacting Beaver Dam’s economy and demographics and the city is favorably located between the Fox River Valley and eastern Madison region (~30 mins to each)

Site environment overview

  • General surroundings fit for industrial activity
  • The Beaver Dam Commerce Park Land is situated along U.S Highway 151 at Hemlock Road and County Highways A and W in Beaver Dam, WI at a distance of ~3.5 miles from the Beaver Dam city center.
  • The parcels evaluated for certification comprise the majority of the Beaver Dam Commerce Park, located across from 151 Business Park to the South, across the highway from a Walmart distribution center to the east, and agricultural land to the west and north of the site.

Roadway access

  • Proximity to interstate and other highways providing convenient access for labor and logistics
  • Access roads in place to site, or plans in place to extend access road(s) to site
  • The Beaver Dam Commerce Park land is surrounded by County Highway A on the northern border, County Highway W to the west and Hemlock Road to the south, and is adjacent to US Highway 151 along the eastern border.
  • Ingress/egress to the commerce park would likely involve road widening and improvements to county highways A and W.

Roadway infrastructure report letter

Rail access (if applicable) not required

  • Feasibility of service (if site is to be marketed as rail-served)
  • Beaver Dam Commerce Park is not currently served by rail, and rail service is not intended for the future of the park; however, a feasibility study was undertaken to evaluate the potential to extend a spur onto the Beaver Dam Commerce Park Land from the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (WSOR) line that runs ~1.8 miles west of the commerce park land.
  • The 1.8-mile rail extension would require acquisition of land from multiple property owners over the entire stretch.
  • Total cost of designing and constructing the new rail spur (not including significant costs associated with the land acquisition) would amount to ~$1.9 million. Construction alone would likely require one year.

Railway infrastructure report letter

Commercial airport access – Access to airport(s) with commercial air service

  • Driving distance to proximate commercial airport(s) and overview of service available
  • ~50 minutes’ drive to Dane County Regional Airport (MSN)—44 miles directly on U.S. Highway 151
  • ~80 minutes’ drive to General Mitchell International Airport (MKE)—74 miles via Interstate 41

Airline service infrastructure report letter

Freight airport access – Access to airport(s) with freight air service

  • ~50 minutes’ drive to Dane County Regional Airport (MSN)—44 miles directly on U.S. Highway 151
  • ~80 minutes’ drive to General Mitchell International Airport (MKE)—74 miles via Interstate 41

Airline service infrastructure report letter

Site Intro

Requirement Comments

Master site plan and/or site plan illustrating exact dimensions and number of parcels for the specific site being submitted for certification

  • Minimum of 20 contiguous developable acres

Master Site Plan provided clearly delineates five sites, with the following acreage: Site 1 (102.9 acres), Site 2 (41.0 acres), Site 3 (27.6 acres), Site 4 (23.8 acres) and Site 5 (82.8 acres).

Site plan

Site acreage map

Aerial photograph illustrating the specific site being submitted for certification as well as the surrounding properties

Aerial photo of the Beaver Dam Commerce Park has been submitted which highlights the surrounding uses which includes a distribution center toward the east, the 151 Business Park to the south, and agricultural use toward the western and northern borders of the site.

ALTA Survey (American Land Trust Association) inclusive of site being submitted for certification

ALTA survey covering the entire park area was performed in September 2018 and illustrates utility easements, wetlands and residences on land within the park and between sites evaluated for certification.

Floodplain map (FEMA-produced FIRM map)

  • No part of the site may be located on (or directly adjacent to) a floodplain

FEMA-produced FIRM map submitted in April 2010. No part of site is on or directly adjacent to a floodplain.

Flight path specifications (if site is within 2 miles of an airport)

  • Documentation (letter or map from FAA) indicating any restrictions related to airport proximity

Not proximate (within 2 miles) of any airport; nearest airport is a small county airport (Dodge County Airport – UNU) about 6.0 miles southeast of the site.

Ownership – entire site must be wholly controlled by a single owner with documented willingness to sell to an industrial user

Sites evaluated for certification are owned by eight individual landowners across 19 parcels, though all are controlled through existing options held by Alliant Energy. The option agreements all have terms of five years, extending until summer 2023 with an option to extend the agreements for another five years until summer 2028.

Property owner map

Property options

Asking price – current asking price for sale or lease of the land must be indicated

  • Documentation of asking price on a per-acre basis

Asking price for the land is given as $20,000/acre, per the 2019 brokerage marketing brochure by Cushman & Wakefield.

Topography – no significant topography issues that could present major obstacles to industrial development of the site

  • Topographic map with clearly defined contour intervals of 2’ or less

A current topographical map of the Beaver Dam Commerce Park has been produced. The site is relatively flat and slopes slightly downward from west to south of the property, with an elevation change of approximately 30 feet from the high point (970’) and low point (940’), excluding a couple of isolated mounds at the western boundary of the site.

Easements – site not intersected by utility or any other easement that would prevent development of 20 contiguous acres of the site

  • Maps of all utility infrastructure directly proximate to (or intersecting) the site

ALTA survey covering the commerce park land site was performed in September 2018 and produced during the field investigations highlighting all easements. The main easements consist of an electrical easement running north-south through the middle of the commerce park land and a small gas easement running along the frontage of the properties on County Highway A. These easements fall outside the site boundaries for all five sites that were evaluated for certification.

Easement report letter

Wetlands – demonstrate that a user can utilize 20 contiguous acres that are not affected by wetlands

Wetlands delineation study was conducted in August 2018, approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and provided for review during the field investigations. The study highlights four areas of wetlands within the Beaver Dam Commerce Park. The above-mentioned wetlands are located outside the site boundaries for all five sites that were evaluated for certification.

Jurisdictional determination letter from Army Corps of Engineers

Wetland delineation report

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wetland concurrence

 

Environmental assessment – no known environmental impediments to immediate industrial development

  • Phase I within the past 2 years; Remediated sites provide completed Phase II and documentation of liability protection

Phase I ESA completed in October 2018. Findings from Phase I ESA indicate that no recognized environmental conditions exist within the park boundaries

Geotechnical

  • Minimum of 5 soil borings (for 20-acre site); no presence of sink holes or limestone caves; suitable water content/water table depth
  • Preliminary geotechnical engineering report (July 2018) provided
  • The preliminary geotechnical study included 21 soil borings dispersed across an area of ~520 acres, inclusive of the sites proposed for certification.
  • Across the central portion of the park, the bedrock depth was found to be between five and ten feet on average.
  • Across the commerce park, groundwater was indicated at a depth of seven to ten feet on average, but in some locations was as high as four to five feet.
  • The estimated depth to 2,500 psf allowable bearing capacity was indicated to be, on average, around five feet.

Archaeological/Historical

  • No known archaeological/historical impediments to immediate industrial development

Phase I archaeological report and historic resources survey conducted in August 2018 were provided for review. No artifacts were discovered on site, and no concerns exist regarding any archaeological or historical impediments.

Endangered species

  • No known impediments to immediate industrial development related to endangered species
  • Endangered resources review verification form from Wisconsin DNR provided.
  • The current form outlines project coverage under the Broad Incidental Permit/Authorization for No/Low Impact Activities, and potentially eliminates the need for an endangered resources review on land in the park.
  • In June 2018, the Wisconsin DNR reviewed the Beaver Dam Commerce Center site and found it is covered by “Table 2” of the Broad Incidental Take Permit/Authorization for No/Low Impact Activities.

The Wisconsin DNR specifically found that the project is covered by Activity 2-A6 and Footnote 4, which explains that an endangered resources review is not required for special concern species.

Fire protection

  • Fire Insurance Classification Rating
  • Distance to the nearest servicing fire department

Class 3 rating applies to the community. The Beaver Dam Commerce Park is five miles from the nearest fire department.

Zoning

Requirement Comments

Industrial zoning (or equivalent) currently in place, or zoning change procedure underway as of field investigation

  • Zoning certificate and relevant ordinance; or, letter from municipal authorities communicating status of zoning change procedure as of field investigation date
  • The Beaver Dam Commerce Park has a current zoning of “agricultural” under the jurisdiction of Dodge County, with the property currently residing in the Town of Trenton.
  • An intergovernmental agreement between the Town of Trenton and the City of Beaver Dam was signed in April 2004 and allows the future Beaver Dam Commerce Park land to be annexed into the City of Beaver Dam.
  • Beaver Dam’s future land use map illustrates the land in the park to be used as “industrial.”
  • Due to the boundary agreement in place and future intended industrial use, once development is imminent, the following steps (and associated timelines) will be undertaken to rezone the park to industrial use:
    • Alliant Energy exercising the option agreements to take ownership of the land (immediate)
    • City of Beaver Dam annexation (1-2 months)
    • Rezoning of land to Industrial use, which matches the future land use plan and map (2-3 months)
  • Depending on the project, the land will be zoned either ”light industrial” or “heavy industrial.”

Planning and zoning report

Surrounding area zoning – zoning of surrounding properties compatible with industrial development of site

  • Comprehensive Plan of area (if applicable)
  • Zoning map of area including site (if applicable)
  • Existing/planned zoning of surrounding land
  • Codes, Covenants, and Restrictions on site and surrounding sites, as applicable
  • Alliant Energy owns generation and distribution assets and provides distribution-level service to the region, while American Transmission Company (ATC) provides transmission-level service.
  • The region is served by the North Beaver Dam Substation, which consists of a 22.4MVA transformer and is served by the 138kV transmission line and multiple 69kV transmission lines from ATC.

Alliant Energy can provide service to the Beaver Dam Commerce Park through multiple existing 12.47kV distribution lines that run from the North Beaver Dam Substation (~1 mile from the site), which currently has ~6 MVA available capacity.

Planning and zoning report

Electric & Gas Utility Infrastructure

Requirement Comments

Proximate electric power infrastructure availability and capacities

  • Utility maps indicating location and current size/capacity of proximate transmission lines, distribution lines, and substations; available capacity that could be provided to the site for each of the above
  • Alliant Energy owns generation and distribution assets and provides distribution-level service to the region, while American Transmission Company (ATC) provides transmission-level service.
  • The region is served by the North Beaver Dam Substation, which consists of a 22.4MVA transformer and is served by the 138kV transmission line and multiple 69kV transmission lines from ATC.

Alliant Energy can provide service to the Beaver Dam Commerce Park through multiple existing 12.47kV distribution lines that run from the North Beaver Dam Substation (~1 mile from the site), which currently has ~6 MVA available capacity.

Electrical infrastructure report letter

Detailed description of dual feed potential (current or proposed redundant service)

  • Overview (and map) illustrating dual feed electric service routes, including location, size and capacity of each node of delivery (substation, distribution line, etc.)

There is potential to provide dual feed service to the commerce park from North Beaver Dam Substation, which is served by two separate 69kV transmission circuits that originate from separate transmission switching stations (one from South Beaver Dam Substation and one from Waupaca Substation).

Introduction of any proposed improvements to/extensions of electric service to the site

  • Cost, timing and funding responsibility of any improvements required to provide proposed service to the site

If a higher-demand consumer were to require electrical service at the commerce park, Alliant Energy would evaluate two options:

  • Option 1: Install a new transformer at the North Beaver Dam Substation and run a new dedicated distribution circuit ~1 mile along existing road right-of-way to the southern boundary of the site. The estimated timeline for this improvement is about one year to extend electrical service to the site and install a spare transformer in the substation.
  • Option 2: Build a brand-new substation on the commerce park land adjacent to the 138kV transmission line that traverses the park land between sites evaluated for certification.  The estimated timeline for this improvement is about two years, with a new substation cost of around $2 million.

Proximate natural gas infrastructure availability and capacities

  • Utility maps indicating location and current size/capacity of proximate transmission lines, distribution lines, delivery points, etc; Available capacity that could be provided to the site for each of the above
  • The current infrastructure includes gas mains along the eastern border of the Beaver Dam Commerce Park along County Highway A. The gas mains along County Highway A traverse south along County Highway W at the intersection of County Highway A and County Highway W.
  • Low-capacity loads can be served from low-pressure distribution lines surrounding the commerce park land.
  • For larger loads, service can be provided by tapping off a natural gas transmission line that runs along County Highway A. That line has 8’ diameter steel pipe and pressure of ~300psi. Current estimated available capacity ~75MSCFH.
  • There is a broader infrastructure project underway to add a new gas transmission line to the system (served from a separate pipeline), which will increase the available capacity to ~200MSCFH.

Natural gas infrastructure map and report

Introduction of any proposed improvements to/extensions of natural gas service to the site

  • Cost, timing and funding responsibility of any improvements required to provide proposed service to the site
  • For larger loads, a new regulator station along County Highway A is proposed to regulate to low pressure for delivery to the site.
  • The estimated timeline for the improvements is about one year and expected cost is $100,000 (regulator station), $50-$100 per linear foot (main extension) and $20-$50 per linear foot (plastic main).

Proximate water infrastructure availability and capacities

  • Water service is provided by Beaver Dam Water Utility, which operates a centralized water softening plant to treat all water. The plant capacity is 4.5 MGD.
  • Typical average daily demand is 2.3 MGD, and peak daily demand is approximately 3.0 MGD.
  • The existing 151 Business Park (to the south of the site) is served by a 16” main leading to a water booster station with two 1,000-GPM pumps. The station has a supply capacity of 1.44 MGD. Water is pumped to an adjacent 400,000-gallon elevated tank on Kellom Road, approximately 0.62 mile to the southeast of the proposed commerce park.
  • 500,000 GPD capacity could be delivered to the southern boundary of the commerce park land by extending a new 12” distribution line 0.62 mile from the pump station in 151 Business Park. This would provide pressure between 56psi and 86psi.

Water and wastewater service report

Introduction of any proposed improvements to/extensions of water service to the site

  • The City of Beaver Dam’s proposed long-term solution to serve the Beaver Dam Commerce Park land includes 19,700 LF of 12” water main extension. Design and construction costs are estimated to be about $4.3 million, with an estimated timeline of eight months.
  • The City of Beaver Dam has determined that it may be advantageous for the long-term development of the area to also connect the infrastructure proposed to serve the commerce park directly to an existing well that is located by the Walmart distribution center northeast of Highway 151. This further infrastructure improvement would require approximately 4,800 lineal feet of new 12” water lines and miscellaneous treatment systems to be added to the well. The estimated cost for this infrastructure improvement would be about $1.5 million for treatment needs and about $2.0 million for the water line extensions. The associated timeline is expected to be about 1.5 years for design, approval and construction.

Proximate wastewater infrastructure availability and capacities

  • Wastewater collection and treatment is provided by the Beaver Dam Wastewater Utility.
  • The existing 151 Business Park is served by a lift station with a firm capacity of 800 GPM, or 1.15 MGD, and existing flow to the 151 Business Park lift station is from one office building at approximately 1,300 gallons per day, or 0.0013 MGD.
  • The existing wastewater treatment plant average flow design capacity is 4.3 MGD. Beaver Dam estimates they are currently operating at 50% of design hydraulic and loading capacities. The planned additional average flow from the Beaver Dam Commerce Park is 0.45 MGD. Remaining WWTP capacity after the addition of the Beaver Dam Commerce Park site would be approximately 1.7 MGD.

Water and wastewater service report

Introduction of any proposed improvements to/extensions of water service to the site

  • The City of Beaver Dam’s proposed solution to serve the commerce park land includes interior site mains, a new lift station on the south end of the commerce park land and approximately 5,480 lineal feet of new 6” force main from the proposed new lift station to the existing lift station in the 151 Business Park.
  • Design and construction costs for just the new lift station and new off-site force mains are estimated to be $3.2 million and would require 13 to 15 months to design and construct.
  • The addition of contemplated on-site service main extension within the commerce park land would increase the total cost of wastewater improvements to about $7.0 million, with an estimated timeline of 15 to 18 months.
  • An alternative gravity sewer conveyance route could potentially be constructed in lieu of the lift station at the south end of the commerce park land if a direct route can be obtained via easements from private property owners and if the elevations allow. This could result in a lower development cost and may warrant further investigation during the design phase.