By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
In a unique meeting on Tuesday, the Northfield City Council and Rice County Board of Commissioners held a joint meeting in city hall to hold a public hearing on a tax abatement deal for the sale of the former Northfield News building. The city purchased the building in June of 2022 from APG Media for $1.2 million to use the space as a temporary municipal liquor store while the current store underwent renovations. However, the city’s plans eventually changed to building a new liquor store instead of renovating it, leading to the city no longer needing the Northfield News building.
Around the same time, Nate Carlson, the city’s Economic Development Coordinator, was working with Loon Liquors about potentially moving to downtown. Eventually they reached an agreement to purchase from the city the former Northfield News building. Loon Liquors plans to renovate the space into what they call a “Destination Distillery.” The project is expected to bring 35 jobs to Northfield and space for 100 customers to sit. Owners Simeon Rossi and Mark Schiller noted that most of their customers come from outside Northfield and that in their current location in the Armstrong Industrial Park, out-of-town customers are not incentivized to spend money at other Northfield locations.
However, there is one significant roadblock for the project: the current cost of the building. The Rice County Assessor currently states that the value is $960,000, meaning the city would have to take a nearly $300,000 loss on the building. In partnership with the county, the city would then use tax abatement to close the funding gap.
Analysis from Rice County, believes that after the renovation of the building, the site’s new value will be $1.3 million leading to an increase in taxes overall.
Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig and Carlson noted that the city is keeping Loon Liquors for a good deal and that the business has been highly sought after, being offered both free land and buildings by other cities. Furthermore, Martig noted that this was not just about tax income but also about bringing a major business to downtown.
The deal was passed unanimously after questions from City Councilors and County Commissioners. Loon Liquors will now close on the building’s sale with the city at the end of December and plans to open its new location in the summer of 2025.
