LAKE GENEVA, Wis. — The owners of Simple Cafe in Lake Geneva wanted to buy a piece of empty land from the city for a new business idea. The owners agreed to the city's price, but city council was divided on finalizing their offer.
Simple Food Group originally wanted to buy the cleared field on Sheridan Springs Road for $610,000, but the city gave them a counteroffer of $750,000. Owner Tom Hartz said they were willing to pay the new amount to expand the company's Broad Street bakery.
"We are not going to survive with the 900 square feet of bakery space, so we were going to move come heck or high water," Hartz said.
City council came to a 4-4 stalemate vote Monday night on Simple Food Group's offer.
The vote came after an hour of public comment, largely in support of the cafe's proposal. Mayor Todd Krause broke the tie and voted in favor of the plan.
"We have a public here that wants us to represent them, and this is what they want to do with the land that they own," Krause said before his decision.
Opponents of the plan on the city council wanted Lake Geneva to either put the property on the open market or reserve it for parking for the city's Hillmoor Park plans.
Hartz said he is relieved and excited that the mayor decided to side with his plan.
"I thought, okay, we're on our way," Hartz said. "This is not the end of something; this is really the start of something."
Simple's cafe and bakery are known for using exclusively local farmers for its ingredients. Hartz said it wants to continue that mission on the new land with an expanded bakery, a coffee shop, an event space, and a culinary education center.
"We're doing something that I love to be part of," Hartz said. "It's going to involve a lot of people; we're anxious to get started and looking forward to it."
Hartz said Simple Food Group will turn the current cafe space into a more dinner-focused concept once the expansion is complete.
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