Business center fees to start in Jan. 2027

WAUPACA – With the construction of the business center downtown getting closer to completion, city officials have started getting ready to hit the ground running once they attain their occupancy permit.
Part of getting ready for opening the center has meant looking at fees that will be associated with the use of the space.
Laura Colbert, Director of Parks and Recreation, said the grant originally said that you are not allowed to collect fees; however, it has been recently been learned that fees can be collected for maintenance of the space, the caveat being you can’t have any kind of savings account associated with the new center.
The co-working lounge with access to high speed internet and the telehealth suites will remain free per grant stipulation.
These two areas in the new center were the reason the grant was received in the first place, Colbert said, which the city intends to stand true to keeping those resources free to the public.

Colbert said with the co-working lounge remaining free anyone looking to use a high-speed connection will need to sign up for an account, each individual user will then have a code so if they come in and something goes wrong the city can monitor that and relinquish codes as needed.
The fees that were voted on will be associated with the meeting rooms, leased office space and the half gym, with future fees to come into play with the AV studio.
City council voted on the approval of these fees which are set to begin Jan. 2027.
The meeting rooms can be rented for $25 per hour for residents and $50 per hour for non-residents.
Colbert said a resident is determined by a person that lives within the city limits or owns a business within the city limits.
Colbert also showed comparables, with the state average for renting their meeting rooms being $65-$100 per hour, locally the Waupaca Public Library is $10 per hour, Coven in Marshfield is $75 per hour or $500 for the day and Create in Stevens Point is $15 per hour.
Colbert said the higher price compared to the library is to create a more professional feel for the business center.
“We don’t want to get stuck in a low starting point, as far as rentals are concerned, in which it will be a lot harder to get up to a comparable price point,” Colbert said. “We want to start where we’re pretty comparable, but still on the lower end.”
The Audio Visual (AV) studio was not voted on because city staff was unsure of where to start with pricing.
Colbert said they plan to make a future determination based on how often the studio is rented and used.
Once the studio has been open for a few months Colbert said, they will take a look at the rentals, monitor the usage of the studio and make a recommendation to city council what a fair price would look like.
The leased office spaces, of which are a total of three for lease, will have a fee of $300 per month.
Colbert listed the comparables as $415 per month or $360 per week at Oshkosh Venture and the state average at about $259-$599 per month, it will also be the least expensive in Waupaca with the average in the city being closer to $500 per month.
The business center is set to finish construction in early summer.