Dylan Brogan is an impressive young man who works for WTDY radio, on and off the air. Recently, he's taken an interest in a Madison story that's been around longer than he has - the relinquishment of Lincoln School, within the boundaries of James Madison Park, to a private developer.
"My father has been trying to get me to talk about this on my show for about six months," says Brogan, 21. "He's been driving me and my mother crazy." But over time, Dylan became convinced that Joe Brogan, a Tenney-Lapham neighborhood advocate, was "100% right."
In 1982, the city of Madison selected an offer from Lincoln School Associates, an affiliate of Urban Land Interests, to buy Lincoln School, a 33,604-square-foot building, for $30,000. Why so cheap? Assistant City Attorney Ann Zellhoefer says the building was in "really bad condition" and sold "as is," with constraints on what could be done and a designation as an historic landmark.
"The developers sank a ton of money into it and had to do it with care," notes Zellhoefer. And the city still owned the land beneath the building, which was converted into about two dozen apartments.
In March 1985, two years before Dylan Brogan was born, the city inked a ground-lease agreement with the building's new owners. That agreement, which Dylan and Joe Brogan obtained from the city, leased the land for 49 years, until March 2034. Then the city could renew the lease or use the land for "park purposes."
Another clause says ownership of the building (2008 assessed value: $2,063,000) would revert to the city when the lease ends, at no cost and in good condition. "It's a funny lease," reflects Zellhoefer.
In 2005, Urban Land Interests offered to buy the land beneath Lincoln School, a third of an acre, so it could turn the units into condos. It offered $600,000 or the land's appraised value, whichever was greater.
The deal was favored by Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz but thrice rejected by the Madison Parks Commission, which disliked the precedent of selling prime parkland to raise cash ("Lincoln School land sale proves contentious," 2/17/06).
Cieslewicz responded by not reappointing one of the deal's sharpest critics, Ald. Paul Skidmore, from the Parks Commission. He also formed an ad hoc committee to study the sale of the school and other buildings in James Madison Park ("Will mayor get his way on parkland sale?" 4/18/08).
Now that ad hoc committee has drafted conditions under which these sales can occur. A draft list, which could be approved this week, would let the city buy back the land at a bargain price should the building be destroyed.
Another condition says the land "shall be sold at a value based on the context of its future use," presumably as condos. "That's the condition under which I can support the sale," says Ald. Michael Schumacher, a committee member. One estimate he's heard placed this value at $5 million to $6.5 million.
Chris Schramm, a project manager with Urban Land Interests, considers this condition reasonable but doubts it would push the price much beyond the $600,000 minimum. "Given that our original estimate of the land value was based on condominium land sales, and that, if anything, the market for condos and condo land has softened recently, it would surprise me if this number were dramatically off the mark."
But since the city stands to reclaim the building as well as the land, Brogan believes it should seek a much higher price.
"We just have to wait 25 more years and we get this property back," he says. "If we're going to sell it, which I don't believe we should, we might as well get the full value of what we own or could potentially own."
Any deal would likely be referred back to the Parks Commission for its recommendation and must be approved by the Common Council.
Sealed away
George Hesselberg of the Wisconsin State Journal recently reported a fight between a prison inmate and a guard in Dodge County. Felony charges were filed - and subsequently dismissed - against both men. But the inmate's charge still shows up on What's going on? Politicians with pull fixing their speeding tickets? Maybe not. County Court Commissioner Todd Meuer, the sealer of these files, says they involved identity theft, as when a accosted driver uses his brother's name. When this subterfuge comes to light, the case is sealed. Dane County has also sealed criminal cases, including felonies. Judge John Albert, who has several such cases, reviewed the files at Isthmus' request. Most, he says, involved juveniles charged as adults who later won motions to waive the cases back to juvenile court. And one case involved a person charged under a false name. Curiously, the prescribed search mechanism does not yield the case involving the prison guard. Nor does it seem possible to find Hesselberg's story in the "Proof of disloyalty," he wrote, "ought to be sufficient grounds for the dismissal of any teacher. All for America!" Parker was hired by the U.S. Justice Department, where he quizzed one person suspected of disloyalty as follows: "Have you anywhere, at any time, criticized the Wilson Administration, Mr. Crowe?" He also recommended the firing of a postal worker who admitted voting for socialist Victor Berger, warning the worker "that his conduct in the future would be watched with care by the United States government." The more things change.... Correct this! It was unclear last week whether the Wisconsin State Journal was trying to set it straight, or set a record. Its Oct. 23 edition contained five story corrections, from wrong amounts to wrong locations to wrong biographical information. Maybe operating without an editor or managing editor with a depleted staff isn't such a great idea after all. You think?