New housing options are coming online throughout Manitowoc County, with many more still needed across all levels, from affordable to workforce to senior living to single family and high end.
The need for housing ties closely to the issue of workforce. Many businesses are expanding and can’t hire workers fast enough, says Adam Tegen, community development director for the City of Manitowoc. Large employers including Redline Plastics, Dramm Corp. and Kaysun Corp. are adding workers and have either completed expansions or are nearing doing so. Ammo Inc. is also slated to open soon and plans to hire around 100 workers.
Providing more living options could help draw more people to the community to help meet workforce needs. Right now Manitowoc has an equal in and out migration of workers, Tegen says.
“From our perspective, we’d love to capture both aspects of that: have people who are living here work here and then people who are working here, have them move here as well,” he says.
In Manitowoc, the multistory River North Apartments complex in the River Point District will bring 87 market-rate units adjacent to the city’s downtown. Developer Allie Family Companies is completing the project with Consolidated Construction Co., Inc.
The Rivers Edge Apartments within the Bayshore development area on the site of the former Elks Club brought 48 units. The development also includes the 52-unit Angelus Senior Living.
Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels says that once a housing development gets built in the community, it’s immediately full.
Manitowoc recently completed a study that confirmed the need for all types of housing. The city is looking at adding more senior affordable housing options as well as working with a developer on a 59-unit, income-based housing project on the former Mirro site. If the city can provide more senior living options, the hope is that it will bring the dual benefit of freeing up more housing stock, Tegen says.
It’s also been a long time since the city has brought in a new single-family subdivision, and Nickels says Manitowoc is looking at offering incentives to developers building homes. “Housing is just an absolute need, and the city needs to maybe change our philosophy a little bit on how we go about that,” he says.
Neighboring Two Rivers also is making strides in adding housing options. A 45-unit market-rate apartment complex on Forest Avenue will bring three 15-unit buildings, and the city is investing $7 million in the project. The first building is slated to open in early 2023, with the second two set for completion in 2024 and 2025. The land is adjacent to the West Twin River, giving most units waterfront views, says Elizabeth Runge, economic development director for the City of Two Rivers.
The West River Loft apartments, a second project in the works, is the redevelopment of a former manufacturing site on 14th Street on the East Twin River. It will offer a total of 54 units, with a mix of market rate and affordable offerings.
“We’re super excited about that because it’s been quite some time — since, I believe, 2016 — when anything larger than eight permits have been issued for new construction,” Runge says.
Beyond housing
Jamie Zastrow, executive director of Progress Lakeshore, says in addition to increasing housing options, it’s important to address the issues of broadband and child care.
In the past, infrastructure was all about roads, she says, and that’s changed. “Right now, it’s about cable and broadband.”
Throughout the pandemic, working from home was challenging for many who didn’t have sufficient connectivity. Zastrow says some areas of the county have adequate connectivity, while others — especially rural areas — do not. The county completed a broadband study and is now working to convene a group to address the issue.
As for child care, a task force is working with the Chamber of Manitowoc County to explore solutions to the problem. The Manitowoc-Two Rivers YMCA also completed a community survey to gather data. Zastrow says funding from a Wisconsin Workforce Innovation grant through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. could help, but landing one is a competitive process. Project Growth through the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families also offers opportunities for grant funding.
Tackling the issue will require the efforts of multiple stakeholders, including employers, Zastrow says. She points to Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry as a positive example of an employer taking the lead. CEO Sachin Shivaram advocates for the need for child care and provides employees $400 per month for child care expenses.
Fixing the child care problem also will require recruiting more people to the profession, Zastrow says. “If it was just about building a couple more child care centers, we’d be done with that project. It’s getting more people interested in that field.”
Attracting people to communities — whether to live, work or visit — also requires investing in amenities, and both Manitowoc and Two Rivers are doing just that.
Manitowoc is investing $3.5 million in infrastructure that’s slated to go into place this summer in the River Point District. The city is adding a river walk, kayak launch, boat docks and boulevard. It has improved the streetscape by adding decorative lighting, landscaping and flowers and taking steps to make the downtown more pedestrian-friendly. It’s also making the switch to two-way streets in the downtown’s main corridor.
Nickels says the new traffic flow will make it more inviting for people to stop in Manitowoc on their way to the S.S. Badger car ferry. The city also is in talks with the owners of the car ferry to show tourism videos on board as the vessel travels to the city from Ludington, Michigan. (Passengers would see videos for Ludington on the way to that city.)
In Two Rivers, the city is completing the Central Park West 365 project, a renovation of one of the city’s downtown parks that needs a facelift. It would include a splash pad and ice-skating ribbon — designed to make the space appealing for year-round use. Fundraising is underway, and Runge says she’d like to see the project completed by 2024.
“We want to get more people downtown to increase that vibrancy to have families and visitors and residents all engaged in that space,” she says.
Both Manitowoc and Two Rivers are beginning to look at how the communities can benefit from the recently bestowed Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary designation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the designation last fall, and the area includes 962 square miles of coastline from Two Rivers to Port Washington.
