#Wausau Riverlife District

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Sterling project for Wausau riverfront moves forward

The roughly $52 million project from Mosinee-based S.C. Swiderski, LLC proposes 200 apartments in the seven-story multi-family building, the Sterling, and a separate five-story parking structure.

Damakant Jayshi The Wausau Plan Commission on Tuesday approved a general development plan for a mixed use residential and retail project proposed for the city’s Riverlife District. There have been some changes since the development agreement was approved by the Wausau City Council in April, company officials told the Plan Commission on Tuesday. Now the number of retail spaces will be five, up…

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Man convicted of luring investors to Colorado real estate scam now leads financing of $100 million Wisconsin redevelopment project

Riverlife Village site

More than 10 years after a former Denver man was charged with securities fraud for his role in an $8.3 million real estate scam, he continues to make monthly restitution payments to his victims.

But Jason Sharkey’s criminal background hasn’t stopped him from becoming a key player in an $80 million to $100 million riverfront redevelopment project in Wausau, Wis., that’s funded in part by city money, according to records from the U.S. and Canada.

The first phase of Riverlife Village is now under construction on 16 acres of city-owned land in Wausau, a community of about 39,000 people 100 miles west of Green Bay, with Sharkey running the project’s financing through a company he founded called Quantum Ventures.

“That’s insane. That’s just crazy, that’s what that is,” said Broomfield resident Thomas Severino Jr., one of many investors lured into the Colorado scam by Sharkey. He and his wife invested $40,000 with Sharkey, who still sends them about $15 per month in restitution.

Neither Wausau Mayor Robert Mielke nor economic development director Christian Schock, returned calls about Sharkey’s background.

Sharkey, 41, acknowledges his criminal case in Colorado, but explains that as the regional vice president of a Canadian real estate venture, he too, was a victim of the elaborate fraud. He said he and his wife lost $134,000 in the deal.

“I never knowingly lied about the fund,” Sharkey said in a written reply to a series of questions from The Denver Post. “I fully cooperated with the state of Colorado in this matter as I did not knowingly take investors’ money for a fraudulent fund or intentionally try to steal money from the company or investors.”

Shereen Siewert, publisher of the Wausau Pilot & Review, has written a series of articles exposing the questionable credentials of key developers involved in the Riverlife Village project, which Sharkey’s company became the development lead for in January.

Siewert — with help from The Denver Post — also uncovered the criminal case in which Sharkey was ordered to repay $692,642 to victims.

Jefferson County criminal records and U.S. District Court documents indicate Sharkey courted Colorado investors on the golf course, promising high yields on their money.

At the time Sharkey was serving as vice president of Klytie’s Global Real Estate Fund based in Calgary, Alberta, Severino said. Klytie’s owners hired Sharkey with salary of $52,000 annually in 2005.

When Severino requested an audit of Klytie’s financials, a Christopher L. Klaus of KPMD Financial Services of Toronto emailed a financial report. But Severino later learned Klaus was fictitious and the company didn’t exist.

On Aug. 25, 2005, Sharkey organized a golf tournament at Heritage Eagle Bend Golf Course in Aurora to raise money for Gilda’s Club Worldwide, a nonprofit organization supporting cancer patients that was founded in honor of actress and comedian Gilda Radner, who died of cancer in 1989. During the tournament, Sharkey guaranteed investors a 10 percent return on whatever sums they put into Klytie’s, court records show.

Sharkey’s boss, Hidai Friedman, told investors his wealthy uncle in Israel directed the company. Friedman also told investors the company owned properties in Panama, the Cayman Islands and Israel. All the company needed, Sharkey told investors, was a bank and the company was negotiating to buy one in Phoenix, the lawsuit says.

Sharkey met investors in the Cayman Islands, where he showed them beach-front housing developments he claimed were Klytie’s projects, court records show. A company brochure boasted the company had 14 parcels around the world worth $52 million, and it also claimed to build low-cost housing in developing nations.

But investors grew frustrated when Klytie’s failed to provide them with basic tax forms and other information.

When Sharkey learned in late 2006 that the company was under investigation in Colorado, he resigned, he said in the email to The Denver Post.

“Being an investor myself, I was just as surprised as anyone when the full extent of the Friedmans’ fraud was revealed,” he wrote.

Thomas Ritchie, a securities investigator for the Alberta Securities Commission, found that two $11 million properties Klytie’s claimed to own in Vancouver, British Columbia, didn’t exist. A home the company claimed was worth $3.8 million was actually valued at $150,000. And the company didn’t own a large shopping mall it claimed.

The Alberta Securities Commission fined the company $220,000 and forbid it from selling securities in Alberta for 25 years, according to a June 5, 2007, settlement agreement.

Sharkey said he didn’t do any work in Canada for the company.

Jefferson County prosecutors charged Sharkey with five counts of securities fraud and one count of theft in 2007. He received a two-year deferred sentence in April 2008. Two owners of Klytie’s, including Friedman, also were indicted.

Sharkey was allowed to move to Wisconsin midway through his deferred sentence. Charges were dismissed when his term was completed.

Despite the fact he continues to receive restitution payments, Severino is critical of Wausau officials who approved Sharkey’s involvement in their project.

“They are doing an injustice to their city,” he said Friday. “I would demand that they do a background check on everyone involved.”

But Sharkey said the experience of being duped himself taught him a valuable lesson of needing to do “one’s own due diligence.”

“This unfortunate legal matter from more than 10 years ago has been resolved and will have no impact on the Riverlife project,” Sharkey wrote.

“All potential investors and lenders are aware of what occurred and the position I was placed in as an unwitting investor and employee of Klytie’s.”

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Wausau negotiates Riverlife maintenance as development plans move forward

The Wausau Parks and Recreation Committee on Monday recommended that a developer spearheading a housing project along the city's riverfront assume responsibility for maintenance of a portion of riverfront trail property.

Damakant Jayshi The Wausau Parks and Recreation Committee on Monday recommended that a developer spearheading a housing project along the city’s riverfront assume responsibility for maintenance of a portion of riverfront trail property. S.C. Swiderski will also be required to pay park dedication fees at the rate of $200 per apartment for their roughly 200-unit complex, said Parks Director Jamie…

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JUST IN: Swiderski nixes Wausau Riverlife project plan

A housing development that would have brought 200 apartments to Wausau’s Riverlife District, along with commercial space and parking, is no longer in the works.

By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review A housing development that would have brought 200 apartments to Wausau’s Riverlife District, along with commercial space and parking, is no longer in the works. SC Swiderski and the city of Wausau released a joint statement Friday announcing the project has been terminated. Wausau received notice on Feb. 7 that Swiderski is exercising their right to…

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Wausau approves extended timeframe for Swiderski Riverlife project

The residential building will have studio, studio suites, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and one- and two-bedroom penthouse units. Retail space is also planned for the first floor.

Damakant Jayshi City officials this week extended the deadline for a mixed use residential and retail project proposed for the city’s Riverlife District, citing ongoing discussions with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on environmental cleanup for the area. The Wausau City Council on Tuesday endorsed the Economic Development Committee’s decision to pass an amendment extending the…

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City scales back Riverlife Park project amid budget concerns

The park is still happening, but a few of the features are being scaled back due to budget concerns.

By Shereen Siewert WAUSAU — City staffers are recommending Wausau scale back portions of a plan for a public park on the Wausau’s east riverfront, after bids for the project came in higher than expected. Riverlife Park is one of the key elements in the city’s ongoing effort to transform the once-barren landscape along the Wisconsin River. The park is planned for a roughly one-acre parcel between…

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Former Riverlife developer accused in $3 million Florida fraud

Former Riverlife developer Mike Frantz is now accused of defrauding a childhood friend of more than $3 million. Court filings show his financial troubles began long before his relationship with Wausau.

By Shereen Siewert

WAUSAU — The former principal developer in the stalled Riverlife Villages development is accused of defrauding a childhood friend of more than $3 million in a Ponzi-style financial scheme in Florida, according to federal court documents.

A lawsuit filed May 8, 2018 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, accuses Michael Frantz and his former corporation,…

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Wisconsin's high court affirms use of economic incentives

Are municipalities abusing TIF districts? The high court says they're legal, but critics say the Legislature should take a close look.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Supreme Court affirmed Wednesday that municipalities can extend cash grants to developers in a case that solidifies a key economic tool local officials have relied upon for years to boost projects like Wausau’s Riverlife Village development.

The case revolves around efforts to construct the $85 million Confluence Arts Center in downtown Eau Claire. The city created…

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Junior Achievement to celebrate opening of Champions of Business Inspiration Plaza 

You can learn more about Wausau's storied past at this cool new display on Barker Island.

WAUSAU — Junior Achievement of Wisconsin Inc. – Northcentral District will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15, to celebrate the new Champions of Business Inspiration Plaza at the entrance to Barker Island on the RiverLife walkway just south of the WOW Family Entertainment Center. The event is open to the public.

An interpretive display at the plaza will tell the story…