Oconto Falls development is on the rise
Firm roots in the past, with an eye on the future
May 19, 2025
MISHICOT – Construction has officially started on two new senior living facilities in the Village of Mishicot.
Sycamore Lodge Senior Living (assisted living) and Woodland Residences (independent living) broke ground late last month at 275 South State St.
It is the fourth facility of its kind in Northeast Wisconsin for Woodland Properties, LLC – with others located in Algoma, Luxemburg and Kiel.
Megan Shevy – president of Sycamore Lodge Senior Living and Woodland Residences, which started in 2021 – said each of the senior facilities is family owned.
The new Mishicot facility, Shevy said, will be a team effort to include her, her husband, along with her sister and brother-in-law, who are relocating back to Wisconsin from Florida in order to work together.
“It will be the four of us driving this business,” she said.
Facility details
Shevy said Sycamore Lodge Senior Living facility will provide a home-like environment, accommodating 20 residents in private rooms for individuals advancing in age or requiring additional living assistance.
“Woodland Residences are zero-entry, single-level duplexes with modern, open floor plans,” she said. “These duplexes will be available to rent for seniors who are independent and do not require staff services.”
Shevy said the assisted living facility will consist of 20 individual bedrooms with an attached half bath.
All rooms, she said, will come furnished with a twin bed, nightstand and a dresser.
Linens, blankets, washcloths and towels, Shevy said, will also be provided.
Furthermore, the facility includes several 24/7 supportive services, including bathing, dressing, hygiene, medication management, housekeeping and laundry.
Each Woodland Residences’ duplex, she said, will have a 16-foot-by-23-foot garage, living room, kitchen with pantry, master bedroom with master bathroom, a walk-in closet, laundry room, spare bedroom/office and an additional full bathroom.
A refrigerator and microwave will be included in the monthly rent.
A laundry room is provided, but the equipment will be furnished by the tenant.
Shevy said they also include maintenance-free living, meaning Woodland Properties takes care of landscaping, lawn maintenance and snow removal.
The assisted living facility will be complete by the end of the year, Shevy said, while the duplexes will be ready in September.
“This development is designed to provide a comfortable, modern and supportive living environment – offering both assistance when needed and separate, independent living duplexes,” she said.
Perfect location
Shevy said they determined that the Village of Mishicot was ideal for Woodland Properties’ next senior living facilities for a variety of reasons.
“We live in Mishicot and have been here for almost five years,” she said. “Secondly, my grandma is from Mishicot. She had an incident a few years ago where she had to move to Two Rivers, but it’s always been her dream to go back home to Mishicot.”
Shevy said many of the people who are interested in the facility are also looking to move back to the Village of Mishicot.
“Many of them have families in or close to Mishicot,” she said. “People are making plans now for their living arrangements (when construction is completed) in December.”
The location, Shevy said, is also strategic, as Mishicot is only about 15 minutes north of Manitowoc and 30 minutes south of Green Bay.
“We are close to the interstate, too,” she said. “It’s a convenient location. Sometimes families are somewhat scattered, and we are (potentially) in the middle of multiple family members making visits just a short drive away.”
Shevy said Mishicot is a “great little community,” with a population of almost 1,500.
“We don’t even have a grocery store,” she said. “We don’t have a stoplight, but the school district is great. Everybody is so friendly. Everybody wants to help each other out.”
Another reason Mishicot was chosen, Shevy said, is its lack of other senior care facilities quite like Sycamore Lodge Senior Living.
“There are apartments with stairs and not designed for seniors,” she said. “There are also older homes with upstairs bedrooms and baths, making mobility a challenge.”
Teamwork makes the dream work
Shevy said she believes her educational and work background prepared her well for this new venture.
“After graduation (from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point), I went to work for a large manufacturing company for 13 years,” she said. “When I left there, I was a general manager at Riverside Foods, which specializes in breaded appetizers, cheese curds and pickles.”
Though she didn’t have a background in health care, Shevy said her general manager background serves as a solid foundation.
“The most challenging part of any business is managing people and customer service – two aspects that I did really well in my previous job,” she said. “It was a pretty easy transition.”
The key to the business’ model, Shevy said, is family teamwork.
“My husband, Eric, does all the maintenance along with the move-ins (for residents),” she said. “When I have a new admission, my husband will put the trailer on our truck and help by moving lift chairs or picking up clothing bins.”
Shevy said Eric will do all the lawn care and oversee the total operations as well.
“We have administrators at two of the other facilities, while I oversee the total operations at the third,” she said.
Shevy said she and Eric started Sycamore Lodge Senior Living in 2021.
“We were looking to work for ourselves,” she said.
She said their goal with each of their facilities is to make the transition to assisted living smooth and seamless, and to offer personalized care and support to each resident.
Starting a facility project from the ground up, Shevy said, has its share of challenges.
“This project started with a vision,” she said. “The next challenge was to find the property, followed by creating the floor plans that work for the seniors and the team that cares for them, combining efficiency and effectiveness. There have been a lot of roadblocks and challenges, but we just keep pushing ahead to overcome every single one of them.”
Shevy said they have an occupancy rate of about 83% across all their current facilities, all of which are staffed by a dedicated, skilled team.
“We have one registered nurse who oversees everything that goes on in the buildings,” she said. “We also have certified nurse assistants, along with a team of specifically trained caregivers who work with residents. We also have medication technicians who are responsible for administering medications.”
Shevy said they learned many things from the development of the three other facilities that have laid the groundwork for the new facility.
“It’s all about the residents – but it goes beyond that,” she said. “There are two factors that make this all work together. You have to make sure you have the right residents. We don’t take residents that we are not able to care for. The match goes both ways. We recognize that sometimes the right direction might not be our facility, and that’s okay.”
Secondly, Shevy said it’s critical to have the right team in place, “because without your team, you have no heartbeat.”
“We’re very excited about this project and looking forward to serving the Mishicot community,” she said.
‘Above and beyond’
Shevy said not all senior facilities are the same.
“We’re a small, family owned business,” she said. “Our staff is super caring. We try to go above and beyond and are proud of the positive reviews (we’ve received) and the gratitude that families show us. One of our strengths is providing end-of-life care.”
Shevy said hospice care is an important component of what they do.
“We work with hospice agencies, who essentially come in and write the orders, but we’re there day to day, always making sure everything’s being followed up on and going above and beyond what the expectations are,” she said.
Families need effective and thorough communication about their loved ones, which Shevy said is something Sycamore Lodge Senior Living prides itself on.
“That is something that we are really good at,” she said. “I just received an email from a family member who shared her words of gratitude: ‘We cannot thank you and your staff enough for the exceptional care Mom received. She often said how I found her the best place because she knew she couldn’t go home. You have amazing, caring people who work for you.’”
Shevy said it’s important to support families through some of the hardest parts of their lives.
“I don’t know how to put it into words, but it’s something we really excel at,” she said.
Shevy said seniors living at its current facilities in Algoma, Luxemburg and Kiel and those who will live at the soon-to-be Mishicot location, are at many different stages in their lives, and the goal is to meet them where they are.
“We have residents who come to us and are very independent,” she said. “They can manage their own house, but they had three acres of land to maintain and simply couldn’t do that anymore. We take all of that off of their plate to help make it a little bit easier for them to continue to live independently.”
Shevy said the facility being constructed in Mishicot is the first of its kind for Sycamore Lodge Senior Living.
“I am not aware of any other specific senior living residences that aren’t apartment-style,” she said. “We have some apartment-style senior residences in Manitowoc County, but nothing that provides the opportunity for residents to continue to have their own home.”
Duplex residents will be responsible for their own food service, Shevy said, but they are currently working on obtaining a retail food license where they would be able to serve meals.
For more details, visit sycamorelodgeseniorliving.com.
