Madison’s financial board met Monday to discuss the Judge Doyle Square project, and voted to send the project back to square one.
The future of the Judge Doyle Square project was uncertain after one of the primary tenants, biotech company Exact Sciences, dropped out of the deal amid concerns over company finances in early November.
Exact Sciences’ withdrawal will allow private development teams to once again be given a chance to make proposals regarding the development of the land.
A resolution was brought before the Board of Estimates that would allow the four development teams that previously bid for the opportunity of working on the Judge Doyle Square project to once again compete for the city’s business.
Some on the Board of Estimates, however, disagreed with the notion of making the new request for proposals exclusive to the previous four firms who applied, calling for a reopening of the process to new competitors for the sake of fairness and competition.
Consequently, an amendment to the resolution on the table was proposed, which would create an entirely new request for proposals allowing firms both old and new to compete for a place in the new Judge Doyle Square project.
City Council approves $200 million Judge Doyle Square project
The amendment passed in a 4-2 vote, and the amended resolution itself passed unanimously.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who dissented to the amendment, said he felt the unamended resolution would have been fairer to the four original firms involved in the project, but did not express concern over the impact of the amendment to the resolution.
“It wasn’t my first choice as to a path forward, but it is one that I don’t think is fatal,” Verveer said. “I think the odds of a new developer coming forward with a proposal who we haven’t heard from previously is pretty unlikely, but we’ll see.”
