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For the first time, officials also said long-terms plans for the site — bounded by Main and Johnson streets between Fourth and Fifth streets downtown — could be tied to a proposal to build a multipurpose arena in Winona.
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The Winona Hardee’s, located at Fifth and Johnson streets, is the last building the Port Authority needs to purchase to redevelop the entire block. The current owners, Northland Restaurant Group, acquired the property two years ago and aren’t interested in selling.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News)
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The Port Authority bought the former Winona Chrysler and Charter Communications buildings in 2007 and 2008, and likely will start demolishing them later this year, Port Authority director Judy Bodway said. The authority has budgeted $200,000 to build a parking lot there in early 2009.
In the long term, Winona’s 2007 comprehensive plan targets the entire block for mixed-use redevelopment. But first the authority must acquire a site that includes a Hardee’s restaurant, which is the only property on the block not in Port Authority hands.
The owner of the Hardee’s site, Northland Restaurant Group, acquired the property two years ago and has sunk considerable costs into remodeling it, said Northland president Jon Munger.
“We’re not leaving,” Munger said.
Bodway previously has said she “can’t foresee” the authority using eminent domain to acquire the property.
Bodway also declined to elaborate on how the site might be linked to the arena project; she did say parking must be part of any long-term plan for the land. In a 2007 land deal to accommodate the Winona County Historical Society expansion, the authority agreed to use the former Winona Chrysler site to furnish the nearby County Government Center with 24 parking spaces for 30 years.
City officials are preparing to hire architects to predesign the proposed multipurpose arena and have said they won’t select a site until 2009.
In addition to the arena link, Bodway wouldn’t rule out other uses for the Main Street site and said the authority will consider developing the property itself or selling it to a private developer.
“The Port Authority will look to be as innovative as it needs to be” with the site, Bodway said.
Contact Mark Sommerhauser at (507) 453-3514 or msommerhauser@winonadailynews.com
