Village hopes new Realtor fills 15 acres

The Village of Fredonia has one big spot left to fill in its Southern Industrial Park, and it believes it has the right person to find a company for it.

The Village Board last Thursday hired Cody Ziegler of Cushman and Wakefield to be its commercial real estate agent.

Ziegler specializes in supply chain management in manufacturing, food processing, warehousing and logistics.

“We’re pretty excited about bringing him on,” Village Administrator Christophe Jenkins said.

Cushman and Wakefield focuses on commercial real estate with offices in Milwaukee and Madison.

“We’re hoping they can help us catch that big fish with the 15 acres we have left,” Jenkins said.

The village had been using the commercial real estate firm Colliers to help fill the industrial park since the village bought and annexed 64 acres southeast of its existing industrial park from the Town of Fredonia in 2021. It spent $1.2 million and borrowed another $5 million to help pay for the land, utilities and to build a road in the development.

All but one of the park’s parcels have been sold. Jenkins in spring said a big manufacturer buying that spot would help curtail a negative cash flow in the park’s tax incremental finance district.

The fact that the park has open graded land already hooked up to utilities makes it attractive, former Village Board President Dan Gehrke said.

The Village Board created the new industrial park since the other one was 20 years old and Fredonia was hungry for growth.

“The mindset since I’ve been here is we’re pro-economic development,” Jenkins said.