Oktoberfest is goal to complete La Crosse’s largest parking ramp

Ramp is part of massive, intertwined development agreements

La Crosse’s largest ramp is close to finished.

The goal to complete the $17 million parking ramp is before Oktoberfest in La Crosse.

The Pine Street parking ramp will feature several floors of parking – over 600 spaces – along with some commercial space.

Right now, there’s still plenty of working being done on the ramp, which takes up half a city block.

The ramp has been at the center of some controversy.

La Crosse mayor Tim Kabat had resisted having the city pay for the ramp and wanted a city and county partnership instead.

The ramp is part of the massive development agreements that included county government office moving out into the old Associated Bank building and the construction of the Belle Square complex.

The old county building was originally intended to be student housing for Western Technical College.

Developers have since switched focus and expanded the project substantially.

They now plan to add two floors, underground parking and solar panels.

The Hub on Sixth will now be apartments meant to meet growing demand from those who want to live downtown.  

The city council this week votes on an agreement to provide more than $1.3 million in assistance to developers.  

Kabat says he’s very supportive of the assistance because of the change in scope to what will definitely be a taxable property worth maybe $11 million.

Kabat said, “If this was going to a student project, the concern was, that at some point it would become tax exempt.”

“Now,” he said, “that ship has sailed and so it is going to become a taxable property.”