Neenah council receives Stantec housing study after residents and regional advocates push for action

The Neenah Common Council on Wednesday received and placed on file the Neenah Housing Study and Needs Assessment, a report by Stantec Consulting, after a presentation by city staff and the consultant and extended public comment urging the council to move from study to action.

The study lays out a mix of immediate regulatory changes and longer-term strategies the city can use to address limited housing supply, rising rents and demand for diverse housing types including entry-level ownership, affordable rentals and senior housing. Interim community development director Brad Schmidt presented the study and turned the technical presentation over to Spencer, a Stantec consultant, who outlined market drivers and projected needs.

Stantec projected the community will need roughly 960 housing units over the next 10 years—about 100 units per year—when accounting for household growth, replacement needs and depressed vacancy rates, Spencer said. The presentation said vacancy rates have been low (stabilized multifamily vacancy near 3 percent), 37 percent of Neenah households are cost-burdened (paying more than 30 percent of income for housing), and rising construction and financing costs make new single-family houses difficult to build below roughly $350,000.

Why it matters: the…