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New downtown distillery gets city tax abatement

NEW ULM — Black Frost Distilling was approved for a tax abatement program at a Tuesday meeting of the City Council.

The business is located at 201 N. 1st St. and will operate as a distillery and cocktail lounge.

Owners Nathan Gieseke and Jace Marti applied for the tax abatement, which will rebate a portion of the distillery’s property taxes and use the proceeds to offset development or redevelopment costs.

The abatement for the business is $128,400, payable over a 15-year term. Of the total, $4,000 would be used to pay the city’s tax abatement fee.

The abatement must be used for construction costs. The initial abatement revenue would be collected in 2024, with the first payment made in February 2025.

The project will create three full-time equivalent jobs, which must be maintained for the term of the tax abatement program.

Community Development Director David Schnobrich confirmed New Ulm has a 100% success rate with other abatement projects.

Councilor Les Schultz said he is a fan of the tax abatement program. He said the idea of a company paying the tax and the city rebating it back makes a lot of sense.

Councilor Larry Mack was also supportive of this program. In this specific case, he said it allowed a business to take a non-contributing building and invest in it. The business has the potential to be a major tourism draw, he said.

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