The New Ulm City Council requested Brown County withhold the center portion of Marktplatz mall from being sold off for six more months to review potential redevelopment options.

NEW ULM– The New Ulm City Council is giving Marktplatz mall one last chance at redevelopment after their decision Tuesday.

The Council unanimously approved a motion requesting Brown County withhold the center portion of Marktplatz mall from being sold off for six more months to review potential redevelopment options. This center portion includes the overhang centerpiece of the mall’s design, with the road going underneath. City Manager Chris Dalton explained what the Council is asking of the County.

“This motion is a resolution to the county saying ‘This [property] is tax forfeited but don’t put it out to auction or sell it,'” he said. “Give us six months to find a developer who can sell or convey it to a property owner to develop said property.”

Councilman Les Schultz asked about the other two parcels of the mall, which sit on both sides of the center portion. Dalton said those two pieces are already privately owned by EBMD LLC, a Minnesota limited liability company. This motion only concerns the center section owned by the city.

Eric Warmka made the motion to approve the agenda item and Dave Christian seconded. Council President Andrea Boettger asked Dalton what happens next after the County receives their request.

“They would accept our resolution,” Dalton said. “They’ll bring it to their county commission and then we would go through the process of being an intermediary between the developer and the county.”

After the meeting Dalton said the city is open to any potential offers for the center section of Marktplatz mall. Since EBMD LLC already owns the other two pieces of the mall, the leading proposal is to sell it to them.

“It’ll come in the next six months,” he said. “Someone already owns the other two pieces; we would negotiate with them to get the middle piece, so they own all three to do a development in the future.”

Dalton confirmed this is the final delay in the process for Marktplatz mall. If a deal cannot be reached within the next six months, it will be sold at a public auction to the highest bidder. He is confident the space can provide advantages to the people of New Ulm.

“The development there would bolster downtown,” Dalton said. “They’re potentially planning to get rid of a building that’s not really serving our purposes and repurposing it. [This will] potentially add more foot traffic to the downtown area.”