MARSHFIELD – As city officials grapple with its future, they are giving themselves more time to make a decision on what to do with the Weinbrenner facility.
Following a 30-minute closed session at the end of its Jan. 13 meeting, the Marshfield Common Council voted 9-0 in favor of extending the city’s lease with Weinbrenner for its current shoe factory at 305 W. Third St., Marshfield.
The council’s action moves the end date of the lease from March 31 to June 30.
The city has agreed not to charge rent during this three-month period (rent is now $4,000/month), but in return, Weinbrenner agrees to cover all utility costs and accept responsibility for maintenance/upkeep of the facility during that time.
During the public portion of the meeting, Marshfield City Administrator Steve Barg laid out a number of options the council has in terms of the future of the factory building.
“Two of the ideas to move forward would be contacting the developers from the first RFQ (Request for Qualifications) process who ultimately weren’t chosen, and then also to contact developers that our consultant Vandewalle knows that they think – even though they didn’t respond -- might be interested in the project,” Barg told the council.
The first RFQ was distributed to approximately 140 firms in November 2024.
The city received five responses. Four were for LIHTC (Low-Income Housing Tax Credit) projects.
The council and Community Development Authority (CDA) ultimately selected J. Jeffers & Co. and began negotiations in March 2025.
Those negotiations lasted for several months.
After learning more about LIHTC projects, and that there would not be a commercial component to the project due to limitations related to LIHTC investors, the city chose not to pursue an LIHTC project, and discussions with the developer ended in the summer, according to a Dec. 5, 2025 memo from Barg to the council.
Barg’s memo also stated a revised RFQ was developed and sent to approximately 140 firms in September 2025.
Although there were a handful of inquiries, only one response was received, the memo outlined.
That proposal, from White Rose Doorways, LLC for a mixed-use project, did not address all items in the RFQ, and the developer, Jack Bezlyk, chose to rescind his response.
If City financial participation is not feasible and/or if another developer cannot be found, Barg said other options may need to be explored.
“Number one is the possibility of looking at a short-term interim use, getting a tenant in there for a period of time to take care of the building, provide some income, handle the maintenance issues, and help get us through the time period until we find a permanent use,” Barg told council members.
“Another would be to continue recruitment for market-rate mixed-use projects the way that you specked out in the last RFQ,” Barg continued. “Another would be to look at a model like a business incubator, some kind of a community-focused use that might have amenities that the entire community might appreciate and enjoy and benefit from. Another one would be a community mixed-use that would include possibly restaurants, shops, office use, something like that. Yet another would be just to simply advertise the property for sale and ask anybody responding to say, ‘If we were to get it, here’s what we would propose to do and here’s what we would provide as a benefit to the city of Marshfield in tax value, job creation, meeting a niche in the community that we don’t have right now.’”
Barg also said another option includes demolition, which he added opens up the possibility of redeveloping the entire block.
“If you want the community to scream, start tearing that building down,” said Alderman Mike Feirer, who added demolition should be off the table.
“I agree I don’t think it’s a front-line idea, but if we turned around and figured out it needed forty-million dollars worth of basic repairs, I think that a further discussion would have to be held,” said Alderman Rebecca Spiros. “If the citizens heard it was forty-million or fifty-million to fix it, I don’t know that they would cry that much if we tore it down.”
Most aldermen agreed that the best use of the building would be for affordable housing, and that following the recommendations outlined in the initial RFQ would be their preference.
Marc Zettler, a preservation architect with West Salem-based Zettler Design Studio, was among those who participated in a walk-through of the Weinbrenner facility with city officials on Dec. 10, 2025.
“What I saw was a very well-constructed building, high ceilings, lots of big windows, a very good candidate for converting at least part of that building into apartments,” Zettler told council members. “This building is on the National Register of Historic Places, which means that it is eligible to apply for state and federal historic tax credits, and right now those are at 20% of the qualified rehabilitation expenses for both the state and the federal, so a maximum of 40%.
Zettler also said items like additions, site work, cabinets and window coverings do not fall under qualified rehabilitation expenses, but redoing electrical, fixing windows, refinishing floors and upgrading elevators do.
“And with where we’re seeing construction costs right now, it’s almost impossible to get something to pencil out financially without these tax credits,” Zettler added.
Barg said there is currently no comprehensive condition report on the facility available.
Weinbrenner is scheduled to move out of the building on March 31.
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