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 neighbors frustrated with U-Haul moving into old K-Mart site
La Crosse residents concerned old K-Mart site could become industrial property
January 21, 2021 6:42 PM Jordan Fremstad
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Something neighbors in the area do not want. But they may not have much of a choice.
People with decades of living experience in La Crosse carry a lot of pride.
“Since 1978,” La Crosse resident Wendy Butler said.
Pride found with a visit to Butler’s home along Heritage Court.
“It is lovely. It is a very nice neighborhood,” Butler said.
Her neighborhood is a short walk’s distance from the old K-Mart store on Losey Boulevard.
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.