On an unseasonably warm September evening soundtracked by the staccato of the Sheboygan North High School drum line, members of the Sheboygan community gathered to get a sneak peek and celebrate a development years in the making: North Town, which will eventually be home to 600 families in the town of Sheboygan.
Construction on the project, which was announced last year following an agreement between the municipality and Van Horn Development, is well underway. The development now also includes a four-story, 93-room Hilton Home2Suites extended stay hotel, which is a collaborative project of Iowa-based Kinseth Hospitality Group and West Bend-based American Companies.
Also rising into view from the 99-acre development along I-43 and WI-42 is the northernmost of two large apartment buildings with ground-floor retail, which will likely become the first building to open in North Town. Two commercial tenants have already come on board, including a Unifit fitness center and Golf365, which is an existing Sheboygan indoor golf business looking to expand. The commercial space is being leased through NAI Pfefferle.
Underground infrastructure is already completed, and future landscaping plans call for the use of natural materials to preserve the semi-rural setting. Additional plans for the site include a sprawling park, a pocket neighborhood with single-family homes, a cluster of town houses, a $50 million Charter Senior Living center and big-box retail. Five ponds surround the development.
“This North Town development is a true public-private partnership,” said Mike Bauer, attorney for the town of Sheboygan. “The town has been working on trying to develop this site for approximately 10 years.”
Bauer said the town purchased the land from the owners in 2017 and developed a TIF district in 2020 before partnering with Chris Merklein and Van Horn Development in 2021.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Bauer told attendees at the sneak peek. “But it’s really worth it.”
Housing and more housing
Elsewhere in Sheboygan County, ground has been broken on the 11-acre subdivision Founders’ Pointe in Sheboygan Falls. The development will be home to 54 single-family homes, made possible through The Forward Fund — a $10 million community development investment by Johnsonville LLC, Kohler Co., Masters Gallery Foods Inc., Sargento Foods Inc. and Sheboygan County. The Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation is acting as project developer.
SCEDC officials say Founders’ Pointe is not a traditional subdivision. It will feature entry-level, three-bedroom homes designed specifically to meet workforce housing needs, with support from but not preferential treatment for the investing Forward Fund companies.
“The companies are not receiving a cash return on their investment,” explained SCEDC Executive Director Brian Doudna, who adds that Sheboygan County is continuing to work toward its goal of adding 600 much-needed single-family homes. “They are helping improve the available workforce for all of Sheboygan County.”
“The goal is to sell these homes at an affordable price point to encourage workforce to relocate to Sheboygan County,” Sheboygan Falls Mayor Randy Meyer wrote in the League of Wisconsin Municipalities’ newsletter in September. “The mortgages on these homes are projected to be under $250,000, with the value of the lot being used as down payment assistance. Without the innovative partnerships, these homes would sell for over $350,000.”
Construction of the homes is possible not only through the Forward Fund but also through the strategic development of a TIF district in Sheboygan Falls, which Meyer said has been recently expanded to cover a second subdivision, Summerfield Estates. The Summerfield Estates project will include 80-plus houses constructed by local builder Werner Homes, bringing Sheboygan Falls’ contribution toward the SCEDC’s 600-home construction goal to 175.
Other noteworthy news and developments in Sheboygan County include:
- An anonymous $1 million donation to the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation Foundation to create the Random Lake Community Enhancement Fund, a program aimed at supporting growth, beautification and placemaking efforts in the community
- The deployment of Wisconsin Fast Forward grants from the Department of Workforce Development to upskill employees at Masters Gallery Foods, Nemak USA and Old Wisconsin Sausage
- Launch of the Sheboygan County Accelerator for Learning Entrepreneurship (SCALE), a collaboration between SCEDC, Lakeland University and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. that is bringing investments to six early-revenue startups in the county
- The re-opening of Sheboygan’s South Pier this summer following a multi-million-dollar renovation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that dates back to 2020
- A $3.17 million project by Bertram Communications to bring fiber-optic cable to Random Lake, which seeks to be nearly complete by the end of this year
- Approval by the Sheboygan City Plan Commission for Sheboygan Area Pay it Forward to operate a nonprofit, non-faith based sober day center to serve the community’s homeless population within the EBCO Venture Center at 1221 Erie Ave.
- Construction of a new headquarters for Kleiber Construction in Plymouth
- Groundbreaking on the 26th home constructed by students from Sheboygan North and South High School’s career and technical education program
- More accolades for Lakeshore Technical College, which was ranked the ninth-best community college in the nation by Niche
- An October announcement from Acuity Insurance that the firm plans to hire 150 employees in 2024, with the majority coming from new openings and positions
