Addressing the housing shortage in Sheboygan County

Jim Paul

Contributor

June 1, 2023

SHEBOYGAN FALLS – An entry-level housing shortage in Sheboygan County is getting a little help from the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation (SCEDC).

That help is coming in the form of an 11-acre subdivision, Founders’ Pointe in Sheboygan Falls – which broke ground early last month.

The SCEDC – a public-private partnership leading economic, community and workforce development efforts in Sheboygan County – has partnered with the City of Sheboygan Falls to construct the first 54 of approximately 600 entry-level homes in the $230,000 to $250,000 price range throughout Sheboygan County over the next five years.

Sheboygan Falls Mayor Randy Meyer said the multi-year project aims to increase the available entry-level housing stock in the county. 

“The City of Sheboygan Falls is excited to be part of the SCEDC’s Founders’ Pointe,” he said. “This is a true public-private partnership that is addressing a countywide challenge. The city is happy to be able to participate and bring new homes and residents into our city.”

Founders’ Pointe Subdivision
Located on an 11-acre site on Happy Lane in Sheboygan Falls, Founders’ Pointe will consist of 54 single-family houses – complete with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full basement and two-car garage.

The houses vary in size from 1,322 to 1,512 square feet. 

“These are designed for people who are going to come here and have good jobs that can afford a mortgage of $250,000 – so it’s (also) about increasing the amount of workforce for our local employers,” he said.

//17bec5072710cda5b8dd81b69f4c6e58.cdn.bubble.io/f1685638074974x850857522821348800/richtext_content.webpRandy Meyer

The project is made possible through a partnership of The Forward Fund, the City of Sheboygan Falls and the SCEDC.

The mission of The Forward Fund, a $10 million community development investment by Johnsonville LLC, Kohler Co., Masters Gallery Foods Inc., Sargento Foods Inc. and Sheboygan County, is to provide funding to address short- and long-term workforce development barriers – and initially be used to drive the construction of entry-level homes.

 “They came up with a fund and the idea is to do this subdivision, kind of rinse and repeat,” Meyer said. “Do this subdivision, get your cash flow back out and then do another subdivision (somewhere else) in the county.”

Brian Doudna, executive director of SCEDC, said the first houses will be available starting in October of this year – with the goal of a couple of houses a month and an overall completion by the end of 2024.

Doudna said the Great Recession of 2007-09 brought housing construction to a standstill and housing starts have been down since.

“Our county has seen a reduction in the number of house building permits being issued every year for single family houses,” he said. “Our economy continues to grow, but the home construction industry is not keeping up with the pace of our economy and the growth of our employers.”

Doudna said the county’s inventory of single-family houses less than $250,000 over the last year range from like 10 days to “I think, the last number I saw was in the seven days of inventory.”

“Typically, if you talk to multiple listing services or real estate agents, a good market has 90 to 120 days,” he said. “We don’t have any inventory for entry-level houses or for workers to be moving into the area.”

Doudna said the multi-year Founders’ Pointe project is a significant step toward transforming the property into a space where middle-income, working families can live and thrive. 

Phase two of the program, Meyer said, will be to the north of Founders’ Pointe and will start in spring 2024.

Meyer said single family houses have always been important to Sheboygan Falls.

“These are people who will live and recreate in our community and around our community,” he said. “It adds more people going to our school district, which never hurts.”

Interest is high
Meyer said he doesn’t think filling the first 54 houses will take long – noting there have already been more than 50 requests for more information on the development’s website.

The addition of more than 90 houses between the two developments, Meyer said, is better than a possible alternative – apartments.

//17bec5072710cda5b8dd81b69f4c6e58.cdn.bubble.io/f1685638110699x292920417248665200/richtext_content.webpEach home in Founders’ Pointe will have three bedrooms, two baths, a two-car garage, and a full basement and will sell for less than $250,000. Submitted Rendering

“For me, this was a nice alternative to someday having possibly as many as 300 apartment units on this land,” he said.

Werner Houses is the general contractor for Founders’ Pointe, and Meyer said The Forward Fund creates a unique situation that allows the builder to build 54 houses at the pace they will be built.

“Normally speaking, a builder builds a home and then they have to market and sell the home,” he said. “Well, in this, the builder builds it, they get paid and it becomes the SCEDC’s job to market and sell the home – so that’s why the builders are able to do 54 houses back to back.”

Meyer said Founders’ Pointe is not a traditional subdivision – where you may build some spec houses or sign a few people up to build a home.

“That’s what is allowing the magic to happen where all of them are constructed at once,” he said.

For more information on Founders’s Point, visit SomeplaceBetter.org/homes.