LA CROSSE, Wis. U-Haul wants “to blend in with the city, not be against it,” a company official told participants in a virtual meeting Monday night who quizzed his plans for the vacant former Kmart building on the city’s South Side.
Up to 50 residents and city officials tuned in to the Bluffside Neighborhood Association meeting, raising concerns about the appearance, landscaping, lighting, potential traffic, and other issues if U-Haul buys the building at Losey Boulevard and State Road.
The building has been vacant since Kmart closed in 2017, and city officials, neighbors and new owners George Parke and Festival had hoped to find a buyer who would develop it into mixed-use of retail and residential with no takers.
La Crosse City Council hears pushback on U-Haul plans for old Kmart building
Kabat voices disappointment, calls proposed use a shame
January 14, 2021 7:59 PM Mike Tighe
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Current zoning allows U-Haul to use the interior of the former Kmart building for retail sales, but rezoning would be necessary for fleet rentals and self-storage.
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) Chagrin over the proposed use of the former Kmart building on the South Side as a U-Haul facility surfaced at the La Crosse City Council meeting Thursday night, with Mayor Tim Kabat describing the plan as “a shame.”
Council member Doug Happel raised the issue, saying constituents have peppered him with questions about the proposal since the U-Haul Company of Southwestern Wisconsin and Rockford announced its plans for the building last week.
U-Haul purchases former Kmart building in La Crosse
January 7, 2021 11:15 AM Site staff
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Current zoning allows U-Haul to use the interior of the former Kmart building for retail sales, but rezoning would be necessary for fleet rentals and self-storage.
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) U-Haul Company confirmed Thursday that it has purchased the former Kmart building in La Crosse.
U-Haul Company of Southwestern Wisconsin and Rockford president Adam Sonnleitner said the company had purchased the building at 2415 State Road, according to a company spokesperson.
The spokesperson said U-Haul plans to open a temporary retail showroom in January with a limited stock of moving supplies and are in talks with the city of La Crosse as about a facility for self-storage and U-Haul truck and trailer sharing.