Control of GM site is key to redevelopment
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The fate of the GM assembly plant in Janesville will likely hinge on who controls the plant’s 4.8 million square feet and 250 acres.
JANESVILLE — Community leaders can talk all they want to about moving on without the auto industry.
But when it comes to any redevelopment of the shuttered General Motors property in Janesville, the challenges are enormous and a final decision ultimately will come from Detroit.
In the past, GM has redeveloped a handful of its former facilities, but conventional wisdom in Janesville is that the best prospects will result if the GM property is under local control.
Ultimately, that means GM would either sell or donate the property to the community or sell it to a third-party developer.
But before GM is asked to make that decision, Janesville must come up with a plan to redevelop all or a portion of the plant's 4.8 million square feet and 250 acres.
To that end, Forward Janesville will ask the city to take the lead role, said John Beckord, the private economic development organization's president.
Such a plan would be incredibly complex, Beckord said, adding that the city is best positioned with its resources to orchestrate a successful re-use strategy.
"There are significant costs associated with a redevelopment plan, and I think the first step would be to hire professional consultants who have experience redeveloping major properties and the environmental remediation issues that are expected to come up," Beckord said.
Liability costs
Environmental liability will be a huge factor in the site's redevelopment, Beckord said. Any buyer will want to know the remediation costs and who is responsible for them. Those costs and responsibilities need to be addressed before a proposal is dropped on GM's desk, Beckord said.
"At this point, no one has any idea what the environmental situation is at that plant," he said.
Beckord said a re-use plan is likely to call for several tenants involved in manufacturing, warehousing and distribution and other activities. Formulating the plan likely will involve a bevy of environmental lawyers, real estate developers and other professionals involved with everything from the condition of the building's infrastructure to its road and rail access.
"It's a huge animal, and the public needs to be aware that it could take several years to accomplish," Beckord said. "The world's awash in excess capacity, and this is a difficult time to be doing this.
"At the end of the day, it won't be so much about the cost to acquire the asset as it will be about the liability costs that could stretch the asset cost several times over. It's a competitive market out there, and for any plan to make sense, you have to get the costs down to a point where they are competitive."
If Janesville develops a specific plan to get the property under local control, GM would be asked to approve the project and either sell the property to a developer or donate it to the community.
As the owner, GM has the right to say yea or nay.
But history also shows that the union obligated to best represent laid-off Janesville workers could have a say in whether GM unloads or retains the local plant.
The UAW's role
GM ended production in Janesville in April. The local plant then lost out in a three-plant competition to build the automaker's new line of small cars.
The Janesville plant, as well as one in Spring Hill, Tenn., has since been designated as a "standby" plant. GM officials have said the two facilities will be first in line to ramp back up if the automaker ever needs more production capacity.
Whether or not that ever happens is uncertain. If it does, it's likely years away when GM would have essentially no local workforce. Within a couple of years, most of the GM workers now on the automaker's rolls likely will have run out of benefits, retired or transferred to other plants.
GM spokesman Dan Flores said the automaker certainly would listen to any redevelopment proposals from the local group. Ultimately, he said, the sale or donation of the plant is the automaker's decision.
But as a courtesy, the international UAW always has been notified of the company's plans first, Flores said.
"We're proud of our history of being a responsible corporate citizen, and although Janesville is no longer an active plant, and we don't know how long it will stay that way, we will continue to be a responsible corporate citizen," he said.
Others, including local, state and federal officials, have said that their impression is that the UAW has the contractual right to either approve or veto any plant disposition.
John Dohner Jr., the UAW Local 95 shop chairman in Janesville, said he's not aware of any contractual responsibility GM has to get UAW approval.
Dohner, who served on the UAW's main negotiating team for the 2007 contract, said the international union might be able to contest the disposition of the Janesville plant because it is in "standby" status and in line for future UAW work.
Several calls to the UAW in Detroit were not returned.
"If it comes down to a re-use of that property for something non-GM, it will be major project with a multitude of components, and it will take time," Beckord said. "In the meantime, however, we've got plenty of other space available in Janesville.
"The re-use of the GM plant isn't the only thing we're working on."
Oct 24, 2009 at 6:05 a.m.
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We need to find an idea that generates jobs from this GM plant. Has anyone thought that maybe we could put in a place like the Alliant Blding in Madison? Maybe on some level, it would generate jobs and income for the city.
Sep 9, 2009 at 1:01 a.m.
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Who can I contact (preferably via email) to find out the current status of this site?
Jason J. Gullickson
http://www.gullicksonlaboratories.com
Aug 10, 2009 at 6:36 p.m.
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Janesville is still on standby status. New GM still owns it. Until GM sells it, the plant still belongs to NewGMCo.
Aug 10, 2009 at 4:04 p.m.
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You people really should get first hand looks at DETROIT,This "IS" what Janesburg is going to look like,if things don't change. You will not be worried about some empty buildings. You don't get it,just like the GOD'S on the hill!
Aug 10, 2009 at 3:06 p.m.
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I'm keeping my fingers crossed that GM will rebound and they will need the plant to build cars.
Aug 10, 2009 at 1:02 p.m.
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because its contaminated...it would be like putting a bandaid over an infested, festering wound
Aug 10, 2009 at 12:45 p.m.
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Whynot, they cannot move the fairgrounds there because they are worried about the farm animals contaminating the plant site with urine and manure.
Aug 10, 2009 at 12:45 p.m.
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GM should sell it to the military for bombing exercises.
You know that isn't a 1/2 bad idea. It would be a great spot for a new armory. I don't think the military would care how polluted the ground is because they would want to park a bunch of trucks there anyways...
Aug 10, 2009 at 12:43 p.m.
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SarahB, I am glad we are on the same page. I think your 15 years is about right. I think it will take 15-20 years. GM's problems and cloudy future only adds to the nightmare. I saw this happen with the Wagon Wheel in Rockton and the Beloit Mall.
I am still a bit fuzzy on what liability or responsibility GM has to this plant. The bankruptcy complicates the issue. I still do not understand the Old GM and New GM model and how this will impact the plant. Finally, no matter what the outcome, we taxpayers will be on the hook for dealing with this albatross!
Aug 10, 2009 at 12:32 p.m.
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Why not move the fair grounds there?
Aug 10, 2009 at 11:38 a.m.
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TheJoker: We are on the same page as far as the future "wars" over responsibility for the cleanup of this property. I have felt this way since GM announced it was shutting down here. My only question pertains to how long it will take before the whole issue is laid to rest. I am predicting at least 15 years. How about you; what is your guess?
Aug 10, 2009 at 11:30 a.m.
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The site could well become a superfund environmental cleanup site. Think of all the workers and nearby neighbors who were exposed to all kinds of nasty pollutants for years. Somebody should track the number of cancer deaths by type among the workers and in nearby neighborhoods. There are hundreds of blood-thirsty lawyers just looking for class action lawsuits.
Aug 10, 2009 at 10:53 a.m.
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People, I will once again predict that this will be an albatross around the neck of Janesville for years to come. Responsibility will be passed back and forth, thousands of dollars will be spent for one study after another and the plant will become a safety hazard for those that chose to trespass. Environmental issues will be off the scale. This eyesore will be one of the burning issues for the City of Janesville for years to come.
I suggest they implode the plant and then flood the Rock River over the property to increase Monterey Park and make it the new Lion's Beach.
Aug 10, 2009 at 9:53 a.m.
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if this plant would have been considered "old GM" they could have dumped this plant and not worried about contamination. they kept it "new GM" and thus are still responsible for the sight. and as far as ostcity......thats actually one that is being considered to go in here. overflow for the a body vehicles
Aug 10, 2009 at 7:59 a.m.
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Be sure to hire the person who has experience working with this type of situation.
Aug 10, 2009 at 7:51 a.m.
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joeflint: Are you serious about the environmental cleanup responsibility? That is absolutely disgusting.
Aug 10, 2009 at 3:34 a.m.
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Bad news on the cleanup side of things... part of the sweetheart government bailout was that environmental liabilities of the "old" GM will not carry over to the "new" GM.
And why would we, the taxpayers, even allow the "new" GM to sell the property? (As in, who pockets the money from the sale?) We own a majority stake!
Sigh...
Aug 9, 2009 at 11:04 p.m.
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Give it up! GM has already had at least 2 auctions through Maynard's.
Give it up! GM is gone from Jville!
Maybe the city could revamp it to ONE high school!
Aug 9, 2009 at 10:32 p.m.
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biggirl;Your goofy! All the monies that g.m. put in wis. for a hundred years,"what", YOU THINK you got jilted out of money for a stupid road,that's pocket change, compared to the billions,if not trillions g.m. contributed to the state. Your just another G.M. hater.
Aug 9, 2009 at 10:29 p.m.
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It would be nice if they could AT LEAST keep up the weeds/grass/landscaping around the Janesville GM Plant! I doubt my neighbors would let ME get away with it if my yard looked like that! Clean it up!!!!
Aug 9, 2009 at 9:36 p.m.
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I just heard from my sources that GM is looking at Janesville again as the overflow plant to build the hot selling Colbalt. GM has said they can't meet demand and they will need to increase production by reopening one the shut down plants.
Aug 9, 2009 at 9:20 p.m.
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I say make into a super max prison...
Aug 9, 2009 at 8:55 p.m.
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Let's not get suckered into taking the plant for nothing or buying it for 5$. It's going to cost millions to restore that area. GM should pay the money to restore the area, since they're the ones that stuck us with it (after we as a state did all the investments in roads, etc. that they demanded.)
Aug 9, 2009 at 8:17 p.m.
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+1 chainsaw......people really need to let this go. GM will not need extra capacity. The Janesville plant is outdated and too far removed from the supply chain for them to even considering opening up this can of worms again. I think that as soon as the taxpayers stop subsidizing the new auto purchases of their neighbors(when the cash for clunkers program runs out of money), GM will once again have a difficult time selling the inventory it can currently produce and will continue to lose market share......
Aug 9, 2009 at 7:52 p.m.
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oh, momof5. the board is currently considering that idea with the G8. no decision one way or the other yet.
Aug 9, 2009 at 7:47 p.m.
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I never knew a dead horse could be beaten so many times
Aug 9, 2009 at 7:05 p.m.
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advancement of new vehicles is going to happen sooner than later. its already been announced by the board of directors that this is a fact. with Spring Hill and Janesville both idled, and the fact some current vehicles need to be moved, GM may be back here sooner than you think. a couple of the vehicles are already in need of extra capacity IE the Malibu. new ones are coming out, IE the new Buick crossover that will be plug in or gas by the end of 2011. GM could have already unloaded this plant a couple times over but didn't. the environmental study they took this year is still not complete s we will see on that end but i firmly believe, with a lot of people who transfered still able to come back, this plat will see action within 6 months.
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:35 p.m.
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GM should sell it to the military for bombing exercises.
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:09 p.m.
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"At this point, no one has any idea what the environmental situation is at that plant," Beckord says.
GM knows because soil core samples were taken around the property a couple years ago.
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:04 p.m.
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Beckord and friends want to make a deal with the city and GM so FJ members can make money off that property. I'm sure GM would love to get rid of that property without the liability of cleaning the chemicals and heavy metals from the site. If GM doesn't clean the site, you, the local tax payer will. If we make sure GM cleans their site before they sell it, they will be more likely to put a product in there instead. Beckord and friends dealing with GM this early is not in the best interest of anyone wanting GM back. Beckord has said in the past..."I work for the members of Forward Janesville".
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:47 p.m.
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Geno: For 30 years? Elaborate, please.
DaWolfman: AGREED!
I'm still scratching my head why no plans have been announced to rebadge the G8. What a bunch of dopes!
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:24 p.m.
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There are so many empty warehouses in Janesville already, I'm not sure there should be any rush to develop the GM plant into a bunch of small companies. For now, I think it would be wise to keep the plant in the news for the simple chance that someone with scale might have interest in it.
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:17 p.m.
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G.M. needs to be held responsible for cleaning up the site.
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:13 p.m.
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Ya know, GM is just now beginning to come out of bankrupcy. they haven't had time to re-evaluate their current lines, OR fire up and turn out their new products. already the city brass is planning what to do with something they don't own. well, next election none of the city brass will get my vote. they are telling me right now they are to dam impatient. planning is fine, but time is needed in this case. within 6 months i bet something will be back in this plant. the GM board is speeding up release of new models. also there is at least one maybe 2 products whos plant is closing and is old GM. most of this can be seen on the Detroit Free Press web sight.
Aug 9, 2009 at 4:49 p.m.
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G.M. "WILL" be back,have faith my fellow citizens.
Aug 9, 2009 at 4:20 p.m.
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Raze all the buildings and put up condos with Rock River access. Everyone in America over 50 is "being retired" right now, so they should sell like hot cakes.
Just kidding. It's a shame, but it was coming for 30 years. Local control could get things moving, but it will take federal, state, and local money to do anything.
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