When Oscar Mayer closed its Madison plant for good in 2017, a sizeable hole was left on the city’s east side that largely remains more than a half decade later.
It’s not that the city of Madison and developers don’t have ideas for the property — they do. But bringing those ideas to fruition has been difficult for a number of reasons, and today much of the property and its surrounding area are more of a reminder of what the community lost when the food manufacturer departed than a realization of the city’s potential for conservation, growth, and innovation.
However, while progress to redevelop the site has been slow, it’s not for lack of trying. What follows is a review of the city of Madison’s “Oscar Mayer Special Area Plan” along with updates of what’s happened on and around the property so far and what’s on the horizon. It describes the city’s still largely unfulfilled vision.
Where we started
According to the city’s Oscar Mayer Special Area Plan, when the Oscar Mayer facility began operation in the early 1900s, its heavy industrial use was appropriate given that it was located on the outskirts of the city. Over time, neighborhoods developed around Oscar Mayer, providing housing stock for a walkable workforce.
The facility became a longstanding and integral part of the community, employing over 600 workers at the time of its closing and approximately 4,000 during its peak in the 1970s.
Yet after operating on the east side of Madison for almost 100 years, Oscar Mayer closed its doors for good in 2017.
While its closure had a devastating impact to many, it created an opportunity and was the catalyst for reimagining the future of an entire industrial corridor in close proximity to downtown, equipped with a strong regional transportation network, and served by significant building infrastructure assets. To make the most of the opportunities, the city embarked in 2018 on a multiphase strategic assessment for the area surrounding the former Oscar Mayer Plant.
The plan is intended to be used as a guide for subdivisions, zoning, economic development policies, proposed public infrastructure investment and timing, and other considerations relevant to reuse and redevelopment within and around the planning area. The plan also is intended to be used to guide future development by providing city staff and elected and appointed officials a basis for reviewing private development proposals that may be submitted in the future.
The Oscar Mayer area planning process was completed in two distinct phases. Phase 1 kicked off in mid-2018 with a strategic assessment that took a “big picture” look at the area and explored its role in the regional economy. It established an ambitious vision and 10 redevelopment objectives to drive the outcomes of the Special Area Plan and other efforts that may not be in the plan but are necessary to achieving the vision. In February 2019, the city adopted the report and authorized the development of the Oscar Mayer Special Area Plan.
Phase 2 puts the vision and redevelopment objectives into motion by evaluating future land use; by providing site-specific guidance for future development, building scale and design, new streets and paths, and public open spaces; and by developing an implementation strategy.
The future land use plan within the Special Area Plan expresses the city’s intent for how future development should occur in the planning area and provides guidance to property owners and developers alike. It illustrates the city’s long-range view of how particular properties should be configured and developed over time and identifies each area’s function and character in more detail. The objective is to develop adjacent properties in a cohesive manner and ensure that future uses strengthen the quality and character of development while balancing redevelopment with the needs of surrounding neighborhoods.
The plan builds on the vision established in the strategic assessment by capitalizing on the area’s existing transportation infrastructure, by recommending a transit-oriented, high-density, mixed-use district integrated with a multimodal transit facility along Commercial Avenue. The mixture of uses along the corridor promote a pedestrian-oriented urban street, with activated ground floors and residential or other uses above. This provides opportunities for local restaurants, arts and entertainment, sports and wellness, and other service-related uses and businesses to be part of the redevelopment.
The plan also recommends a mix of housing densities on a gridded street network west of the railroad tracks, organized around a significant preserved wetland and neighborhood park. North Sherman and Aberg Avenue frontages are designated as mixed-use to capitalize on greater visibility.
Ultimately, the goal is to completely transform the Oscar Mayer site from the vacant buildings and sea of asphalt it is today into a high-density, mixed-use employment center. Activated street corners would complement employment uses with daily amenities for existing and future employees. The Special Area Plan also recommends pockets of urban open space throughout the area to welcome the general public into the area and serve residents and employees with a bit of natural beauty.
Where we are now
Some development has happened already on and around the former Oscar Mayer site.
OM Station, located at the former Oscar Mayer headquarters at 910 Mayer Ave., consists of 1.7 million square feet of industrial and office space and sits on 69 acres of land. The facility includes manufacturing, cold storage, office, creative work space, and high bay warehouse distribution space. Rabin, a California-based auction and real estate investment company, in partnership with Reich Brothers, a national industrial real estate firm that is also based in California, purchased the site in 2017 and is repositioning the property to be a multitenant, mixed-use campus. The partnership has completed substantial improvements to the property and is now actively leasing for office and creative work space.
The partnership first sold the processing and packaging equipment through an auction process, and then began the cleanout and cleanup of the facility. Significant investment in a property-wide infrastructure revamp has been made to prepare the site for reuse. Since the site is located on a main fiber node of the major east-west fiber loop in the United States, providing access to reliable, high-capacity fiber and heavy power, that should make the facility attractive to tech uses.
Nearby, the Oscar Apartments, located at 1222-1244 Huxley St. opened in the summer of 2022. The Oscar Apartments is home to 55 apartments, including one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units. The apartments are sustainably built to Wisconsin Green Built standards, with an energy-efficient exterior design, EnergyStar appliances, LED lighting, and high-efficiency air conditioners throughout the property.
Another housing development has been approved for the area adjacent to Roth Street and the former Oscar Mayer plant. Lincoln Avenue Capital, based in Santa Monica, California, obtained city approvals in late 2022 for a $192.8 million low-cost housing project featuring 553 units across two six-story buildings. These structures, which are located near a vast natural area comprising open space, trees, and wetlands, will cater to both seniors and families. As part of the development, Lincoln is also mandated to allocate 9.3 acres of land to the Madison Parks Division, a common practice to allow for pockets of green space.
In addition, Lincoln Avenue Capital has engaged Madison-based McShane Construction Co. to oversee the design-assist construction services for The Derby Apartments, a 70-unit affordable housing community. With partial funding for the project provided by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), 14 of the units will meet WHEDA accessibility requirements.
Scheduled for completion in September 2024, the four-story structure will feature a range of amenities, including a fitness center, a full kitchen, a solar array system on the roof, and a parking garage accommodating around 61 vehicles. The ground-level office area would encompass a conference room, a classroom, three private offices, and dedicated work areas.
Making room for green
The city of Madison is also considering plans to create a 15-acre public park featuring open space and wetlands. The proposed purchase, estimated at $1 million, is intended to support the Lincoln Avenue Capital development.
However, deliberations persist between neighboring factions advocating for either a natural conservation park or a more amenity-rich neighborhood park. The conservation park concept aims to preserve sensitive natural resources, while neighborhood parks exceeding five acres are envisioned as hubs for recreational and social activities — a sort of communal backyard for local residents.
Notably, there are differences in the interpretations of Madison’s Oscar Mayer Special Area Plan, which emphasizes expanding parks, urban open spaces, and recreational opportunities within the planning zone. Specifically, it designates 15 acres of the Hartmeyer property for an active and nature-centric park.
The site was rezoned in 2022 from “industrial general” to “conservancy,” signaling a shift toward park-centric usage, albeit with distinct interpretations. While some advocate for a predominantly conservation park layout, the Parks Division leans toward a neighborhood park, featuring amenities like courts, playgrounds, and shelters alongside open space and wetlands.
Stakeholder perspectives differ substantially. According to a report from the Wisconsin State Journal, the Sherman Neighborhood Association prefers the conservancy zoning, advocating for the land’s primarily natural preservation. Conversely, the Friends of Hartmeyer Natural Area lobby for the conservation of a more expansive area, promoting its role in sustaining biodiversity, mitigating climate change, and ensuring equitable access to nature in the burgeoning neighborhood.
Undone by contamination?
Hanging over all of the redevelopment talk is the specter of site contamination from the land’s near-century of industrial use.
Madison residents have expressed apprehension over proposed affordable housing developments at the former Oscar Mayer plant, citing worries about potential ground contamination. City officials and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have acknowledged these concerns but maintain that they are taking necessary precautions to redevelop the property safely.
“There’s some petroleum contamination, shallow contamination involving heavy metals like arsenic, lead, and PAHs [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons],” notes Brynn Bemis, a city of Madison hydrogeologist, who emphasized ongoing efforts to address the contamination. The initial step involves understanding its origin through the first phase of an environmental site assessment.
Bemis says the contamination primarily resulted from large above-ground tanks with underground piping that leaked, as well as decades of use as a meat packing plant and above-ground coal storage.
With past industrial use in mind, neighborhood groups have questioned the safety of the land for human habitation, especially for vulnerable populations, but Isaac Ross, remediation and redevelopment program supervisor, emphasizes the DNR’s accountability in overseeing contaminated sites to ensure protective measures during the redevelopment process.
According to the DNR and Bemis, the site has been tested for contaminants, and before any construction begins, developers are required to submit a material management plan to the DNR, detailing the handling and disposal of contaminated materials. The goal of the material management plan is to address the safe removal or capping of contaminated soil to prevent direct contact issues for individuals on the property.
