Madison, Wisc.-The point man on the sale of the property says Agrium Inc. is giving up on demolition of most of the structures to make the old Royster-Clark fertilizer plant more appealing because of the burdensome conditions imposed by the city to obtain a permit. Daren Couture, Agrium manager of asset recovery, told Green Markets, “Normally you would expect a permit to take 30 days. We’ve been working in Madison on getting approval to apply for six months. We got the approval Jan. 26 based on conditions we can’t meet.” Couture says one of the reasons for giving up on the demolition and instead seeking a buyer for the property is that one of the conditions for a demolition permit is having a plan for the property’s development, and Agrium isn’t the one who’s going to develop the property. Madison Planning Director Mark Olinger responded that the city doesn’t expect a full-blown development plan. “What they needed to do was make some effort on how they would handle post-demolition,” he insisted. “We didn’t want something in limbo which was left half removed and half still there as a serious health and safety issue. (Unfortunately) we haven’t heard about the larger issues from Agrium since the Jan. 26 planning commission meeting.” Couture believes someone could buy the property as it exists, but this remains as a deterrent because most potential buyers are in the development and not the demolition business. He says he’s been told by some of these potential buyers that removal of the structures would make the property more attractive. Agrium acquired the property with the rest of Royster-Clark’s business in June 2006 and operated the facility in Madison for a brief time until it was closed that September. A local reporter described the 27-acre site as a “fading yellow metal-sheathed monster distinguished by a five-story central tower, twin 10,000-ton storage domes, criss-crossing aerial conveyor belts and a sprawling main structure covering a chemical mixing pit that runs 16-feet deep, 100-feet wide and the length of a football field.” Madison planners see it as the future location of new office buildings, small businesses, stores and homes on one of the biggest remaining developable areas in Madison. A marketing study concluded that it could complicate the future of another residential and commercial development. Agrium says it has wanted to clear the property for several years, with safety being one of the reasons so as not to have youngsters playing in an unsafe place.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain