Hudson City Official Working With Listing Agent, Potential Buyers of Dog Track Property

Community Development Director Dennis Darnold has held conversations with the real estate brokerage firm that has listed the St. Croix Meadows dog track as well as at least one potential buyer of the property.

"I have had some conversations, but those are confidential at this level," Darnold said on Thursday morning.

Darnold said the property is zoned as B-2 general business, which means it could be used for retail and other commercial uses, such as corporate office space. It is not zoned for industrial use. The last of racing at the dog track was Aug. 10, 2001. The property has sat vacant for nearly 10 years.

Darnold said the city hopes the property will lure businesses that would bring additional tax base to the city—"something like a business park where you'd have a mixture of office uses or something like a corporate headquarters that might be interested in moving to Hudson," Darnold said.

The infrastructure around the site is already in place, which makes the property more appealing to potential buyers. Darnold said a trunk system of water and sewer lines runs diagonally through the property and goes up into the St. Croix Business Park.

According to the property listing, the St. Croix Meadows site is on 126 acres  and includes 372,000 square feet of an office/grandstand building, heated outdoor track, kennels and annex. The listing also says the property is "located in the vibrant commercial area of Hudson, Wisconsin—just south of Interstate 94 with great access via Carmichael Road."

"The city of Hudson is excited that the property may be redeveloped," Darnold said. "We're going to work the best we can with the listing agent to hopefully find a buyer and a group that's interested in redeveloping it."

Listing agent Frank Jermusek of Grubb & Ellis, Northco Real Estate Services could not immediately be reached for comment.