George Williams College X Topography

In the winter of 1996,  during my senior year of high school,  I stole a prop sign off of the George Williams College campus during the filming of the Keanu Reeves “thriller” Chain Reaction. In my defense, the movie had wrapped shooting and the sign was likely headed to the local landfill, so my only crime was a commitment to recycling.  In the spring of 1995 I teed off on the back nine of the GWC golf course as a varsity golfer for Faith Christian High School. (A golfing note on GWC: My dad claims to have hit a hole in one on this course sometime in the late 1980s, but no one else saw it so I’m slightly dubious of this feat.)  I was playing against my Williams Bay childhood classmates, so when I stood on that tee with driver in hand it wouldn’t have been possible to be more nervous.  After a deep breath to steady my nerves I ripped that drive between those pine trees right down the center of the fairway. In a moment of relief I told an old friend turned competitor, “that’s probably the only good one I’ll hit all day.”  And it was. I tell you this so you understand that my interest in the GWC property is not that of some grifter who recently arrived in town and decided to form an opinion about what’s best for this community. 

You’re likely aware of the concept proposed for the GWC property by Liam Krehbiel’s hospitality company, Topography.  If not, email me to receive the documents that outline the vision for the now closed campus.  When this property was first listed for sale, I entertained calls from various individuals and groups who wanted to develop the property. A golf course with condominiums. A massive hotel with condominiums. A marina with condominiums. 20 lakefront houses and association homes behind, with condominiums. I told each of these folks that such a development would not work here. And not only would it not work, but we don’t want it. Density is not our friend. If you’ve paid attention to any of my municipal involvement over the past three decades you’ve likely noticed a pattern: I dislike development and density.   When I was introduced to Liam through a mutual friend I took his call out of respect, but mostly out of professional obligation. We chatted. I was intent on telling him what he wanted to do wouldn’t work here and that I couldn’t support it. I held that thought right up until I realized what he wanted to do here is exactly what I’d personally want to do with this property. I approved of his vision and represented his group (Topography) to a contract. I was thrilled for what this would mean to my hometown. 

Nearly a full year and many introductions, concessions, meetings and plans later, we’re at the point where the Village of Williams Bay is to vote on the proposal. The positives of this concept are obvious, but allow me to outline my thoughts as to what this plan accomplishes for our community both now and well into the future. 

Most notably, the plan brings a large piece of lakefront to the tax rolls. The institutional ownership on the lakefront in Williams Bay is well documented and blindly celebrated, but it’s not particularly well understood what that ownership means for the community.  Allowing a continuation of institutional ownership at far more aggressive use levels puts strain on a community infrastructure while not contributing a penny of taxes to the village. There’s a theory out there that suggests it makes more sense to keep this property as an institutional use. Why? So non-residents can have vanity projects that monopolize large swaths of the lakefront without taxpayer or community benefit?  So that the property remains a potential source of development well into the future?  The hotel concept will bring in both property taxes and room taxes to Williams Bay as well as remove the property from any potentially disastrous development attempts down the road (any continuation of the current use leaves the door wide open for more development).  The supporters of institutional ownership say the village doesn’t need the tax revenue. If that’s true, why did the village feel the need to fundraise to replace trees that were destroyed in this spring’s tornado? A community flush with superfluous revenue wouldn’t solicit donations to improve the most visible part of town.  Referendums on top of referendums continue to find their way to the ballot in Williams Bay. Tax increases for this and tax increases for that: schools, borrowed emergency services, road bonding,  and the list goes on and on.  What if we had business to help shoulder the burden that currently falls almost exclusively on the residential property owner? 

It’s apparently gone unnoticed by the community, but although Aurora has been a wonderful steward of the property for the past 20 or so years,  the changes on the lakefront are stark.  This is how institutional ownership can operate in P&I zoning and build/move/raze with little municipal concern. Impervious surfaces increased dramatically on the GWC lakefront over the past twenty years. Asphalt was introduced to serve new buildings and more patrons. New buildings popped up for various uses.  The Topography plan reduces impervious surfaces by 14% on the lakefront. The plan removes asphalt and repurposes buildings where possible.  It takes the old golf course and re-wilds it into a nature preserve in perpetuity, (excepting a handful of acres in the Town of Walworth to where the tennis courts will be moved) implemented and maintained by Topography for the benefit of the community.  Are we in favor of preservation and lowering density while providing local jobs and local tax dollars? I know I am.  

There are those who would suggest that Williams Bay is not a “resort town,” and shouldn’t have a hospitality component, I question their understanding of this village.  The same detractors laud the Lazy Cloud Lodge hotel on the outskirts of town. They celebrate the Chippewa Resort on Walworth Avenue. They had no concern when the Belfry House was built at the entrance of town.  Some of them own nearby lodging facilities and voice their opposition as though it is noble and unbiased.  Williams Bay is a resort community whether some individuals wish it to be or not, and it always has been. In fact, it’s more resort town than primary resident town, if measured by assessed valuations. 

 The context of a 68 room inn should be compared to other local resorts. Lake Lawn Lodge has 271 rooms and surrounding condominiums.  Grand Geneva has 358 plus a bevy of condominiums. The Abbey has 334 rooms plus a condo ecosystem around it consisting of Abbey Ridge and the Abbey Villas.  The Ridge (Interlaken) has 146 rooms, and the typical accompanying condos.  The GWC concept, as you can see from these comparisons, has nothing in common with these other local resorts.  

Imagine Kohler, Wisconsin without the American Club.  Have you ever been to Walland, Tennessee? Probably not, unless you’ve stayed at Blackberry Farm.  Have you ever been to Mackinac Island, Michigan? If so, you likely sat on the Adirondack chairs at The Grand Hotel overlooking that big lake. It was pretty impressive, no?  Would anyone hang out in Bachelor Gulch, Colorado if not for the Ritz Carlton that was built on that mountainside in the last 20 years? Why would we live our lives appreciating these iconic points of community pride but not wish for the same here in Williams Bay? To have a further sense of the mission here, Topography team members launched Twin Farms in Vermont, the boutique country inn upon which the Williams Bay project is largely being modeled. 

https://www.twinfarms.com/gallery/

Some might suggest that the town will “change” with the addition of up to 140 added individuals visiting Williams Bay on any given day. Some are saying the congestion will be intolerable and the town will never be the same…  Consider some historical perspective on the population of Williams Bay. When I was a kid, there were no residential developments on Theatre Road. Now, there are as many as 400+ single family homes on that road.  There were only farm fields and forest where Geneva National and its 1200+ homes and condominiums along with three 18 hole golf courses and several restaurants and pools and tennis courts are now positioned. Bay Shore Condominiums weren’t built yet, nor was Bayside Pointe.  Yet when I think back to my childhood I see a town today that very much looks the same. In the 1980s we had a few bars, a restaurant or two, an ice cream shop or two, and a boat dealer on the lakefront. Today, we have the same business make up, but our boat dealer has become a beautiful restaurant and bustling center of waterfront activity.  Have the additional several thousand residents “changed” Williams Bay?  Has the addition of Pier 290 with its thousands of summer patrons negatively impacted or otherwise changed Williams Bay?  Williams Bay’s character will not only “survive” the repositioning of an untaxed college campus into a beautiful world class country inn, but each resident and tax payer will benefit as a result.   

The architectural addition to the lakefront is stunning and market accurate, the placement of the hotel sensitive to the lakefront, and the overall concept of a boutique country inn absolutely perfect for our town.  I couldn’t be more excited to see my hometown embrace something of this quality. In a world where we claim so many things to be “once in a lifetime opportunities,” this project most certainly is worthy of the title.  I would implore you to email the Village officials (all listed below) to express your support of the Topography plan and encourage them to vote in the affirmative (include your address, or other involvement in WB).  If you would like to meet with me to discuss this project, or with Liam, I’d be glad to arrange that meeting as he’ll be in town several times over the coming weeks  (including a visit tomorrow morning, contact me if interested in attending).  It’s an exciting time for Williams Bay, and I’m hopeful we don’t let this opportunity slip through our fingers.  

Please forward to any Williams Bay residents/owners whom you believe would be interested in this topic and who would be willing to send in emails of support and/or attend the village meeting in December. 

Email support for the Topography George Williams College Plan To: 

Jdalessandro@vi.williamsbay.wi.gov

Srussell@vi.williamsbay.wi.gov

Rumans@vi.williamsbay.wi.gov

Gvlach@vi.williamsbay.wi.gov

Lwright@vi.williamsbay.wi.gov

Ajaramillo@vi.williamsbay.wi.gov

clerk@vi.williamsbay.wi.gov

Bduncan@vi.williamsbay.wi.gov

(slides below courtesy Topography)