Is Oshkosh on pace to reach its housing goals?

Stacey Harrison

Contributor

July 28, 2025

OSHKOSH – Driving around the City of Oshkosh, it’s clear development is happening.

From houses and apartments to condos and townhouses, Sara Rutkowski – the interim community development director for the city of Oshkosh – said it’s all part of a bigger goal the city is trying to reach – more than 3,000 new homes by 2030.

“It is full steam ahead,” she said. “I think we’re doing really well, but we have to maintain that.”

In 2021, in the midst of a housing shortage, Rutkowski said the city hired RDG Consulting and Design to conduct an in-depth housing study. 

The study, she said, shows Oshkosh added more than 1,100 new units between 2020-24.

And though the consulting group noted that as “strong” in terms of housing construction activity, Rutkowski said the study shows that nearly the same number of units were added between 2010-19. 

For the city to meet its goal of more than 3,000 new homes by 2030, Rutkowski said the city needs to add 1,831 units in the next five years. 

“[The study] was able to show that not only were we missing that middle for first-time homebuyers … we need a lot of properties in all categories,” she said. “We’re just not keeping up with the growing demand within our community.”

Rutkowski said the study also showed the city needs to offer certain price points.

For example, she said Oshkosh needs rental units with rents under $1,000 per month. 

“People are being priced out of homes,” she said. “They’re being priced out of apartments. We want to make sure we’re doing what we can to get that to them.”

Apartments, multi-family housing, mixed-use developments 

Some of the projects seen under construction right now, Sean Fitzgerald – the economic development director for the Oshkosh Chamber – said, include:

Mill on Main (700 S. Main St.)

A mixed-use development located along the Fox River in Oshkosh’s historic Sawdust District, each of the property’s three buildings – per its website (jla-ap.com/project/mill-on-main) – is being designed to represent the history, industry and location of the development, including references to the Sawdust District, Oshkosh’s Wittman Regional Airport and the Fox River.

When completed, the three, six-story buildings will include 291 units and more than 22,000 square feet of retail space, including a 3,000-square-foot, two-story restaurant.

The property will also have a pool, hot tub, green space and pickleball courts.

Phase 1 of the project has an anticipated February 2026 completion date.

Boatworks Flats (450 W. 4th Ave.)

Described on boatworksflats.com as a “perfect blend of comfort and adventure,” Boatworks Flats’ modern one- or two-bedroom apartments will be located just steps from the Oshkosh Riverwalk and adjacent to Boatworks Park.

Other planned amenities include on-site parking, a 24/7 exercise room, dedicated EV charging,  on-site laundry and heated floors.

Leasing is expected later this year.

The Corridor

Located along the 600 block of North Main Street and the 600 block of Jefferson Street, the first three-story midrise building of The Corridor residential development – per the city – will contain 39 apartment units as well as Oshkosh’s first and only licensed two-shift daycare facility. 

The Corridor is expected to be completed by spring 2026.

In future phases, according to the developer – Commonwealth Development Corporation – the property will include two townhome buildings, each comprised of eight three-bedroom units.

Red Earth Apartments (3495 Lake Butte des Morts Drive)

Situated off Lake Butte des Morts Drive, the Red Earth housing development will offer studios, as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, each of which (according to its website, 3amigosapartments.com/red-earth) feature an open-concept kitchen with island, stainless steel appliances, a balcony/patio, an in-unit washer and dryer and central air/heating.

Other planned property amenities include a clubhouse, swimming pool, outdoor grilling stations, a fitness center, a movie theater, a dogwashing station and underground, heated parking (for an additional fee).

Per the management company, the apartments are set to open this month.

Two newer completed buildings along the Fox River off Jackson Street, Fitzgerald said, already available to renters are:

Mackson Corners (417 Marion Road)

Per macksoncorners.com, the Mackson Corners complex includes 74 residential units of various sizes, including studios, one-bedroom units, two-bedroom units and waterfront walk-ups.

Depending on the unit, apartments include river views, nine-foot ceilings, an in-unit washer and dryer, balconies, quartz countertops and designer fixtures.

Other property amenities include a rooftop terrace, fitness center, residential lounge, bike storage, secure package storage and on-site, covered parking options.

The Brio Building (155 Jackson St.)

Also home to Ohskosh’s Food Co-op, The Brio Building – according to briobuilding.com – features 60 residential units ranging from studios to two-bedrooms.

All units are equipped with an in-unit washer, dryer and dishwasher, and select units have balconies.

Other property amenities include bike storage, on-site parking, pet-friendly units and fully furnished unit options.

“We work with our partners at the city and all of these developers to make Oshkosh an attractive place to develop more housing for our residents,” Fitzgerald said.

Single-family homes

Though the city is seeing an increase in apartment development, Rutkowski said “not a ton of single-family homes are currently being built in our community.”

Single-family homes, she said, are the most difficult to build because costs are higher and typically occupy more land per unit than multifamily properties.

Still, to keep up with demand and in order to meet that 3,000-unit goal, Rutkowski said the city is focused on two single-family developments: Washington School and Farmington Estates. 

The Washington project, Rutkowski said, is taking shape on the former Washington Elementary School property, which was demolished this year.

The plan, she said, is to create 18 lots on that land.

Nine of the lots, Rutkowski said, will go to Habitat for Humanity, which the organization can build on at its leisure.

The other nine lots, she said, will go to a “request for proposal” or RFP later this year so the city can find a master builder to build single-family homes.

Rutkowski said the city is hopeful the project will start this year. 

The Farmington Estates project, she said, will come after Washington.

Rutkowski said this project will consist of 31 single-family homes off Farmington Avenue between W. Snell Road and Jackson Street. 

For both of these projects, Rutkowski said the city is funding them using federal dollars.

The land, she said, was bought with American Rescue Plan funds, and Community Development Block Grant money will be used for site preparation and utility construction. 

Once the homes are complete, Rutkowski said it will provide workforce housing for Oshkosh residents – meaning homeowners will need to qualify based on income, which was set based on Winnebago County’s Area Median Income, and the brackets vary depending on how many people live in the house.

Rutkowski said there will be an application process to qualify to live in one of these new homes, but the details of that are still being figured out. 

Will the city meet the goal?

Rutkowski said these are just some of the new housing options you’ll see going up around Oshkosh – as more projects are expected to break ground later this year and in the coming years.

If the projects currently planned stay on track, these builds will add more than 1,500 new housing units over the next several years, but Rutkowski said the development projects likely won’t stop here.

The city, she said, it’s always looking for new areas to build. 

So, will the city meet the more-than-3,000-new-homes-by-2030 goal?

“I hope we meet it,” Rutkowski said. 

The city, she said, will do everything it can in order to meet the goal.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald said the progress thus far is more than he would have expected five years ago.

“I think we have a remarkable amount of activity right now and attraction from developers,” he said.

Fitzgerald said community members and leaders are welcome to weigh in, too.

Feedback and neighborhood discussions, Rutkowski said, have been an important part of this process.

“We’re all working together to make sure we can accommodate all of our housing needs,” Fitzgerald said. 

He said the plan is to give people a great place to live that they can afford. 

“I think that’s the goal of the whole community,” he said.