Wausau planners report hundreds of housing units built or planned; vacancy rates, workforce needs shape debate

Wausau — The Wausau Economic Development Committee heard updates June 3 about recent housing production and remaining demand after a regional study projected the need for several hundred new housing units through 2030.

Sam Wessel of the North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission told the committee the 2022 metropolitan housing assessment projected 2,077 new units needed by 2025 across participating municipalities and a further 1,153 units by 2030 for the eight-municipality study area. Wessel said about three-quarters of the 2025 projection will be met once developments under construction are completed.

The report matters because city and regional planners use those unit projections to guide zoning, funding and incentive decisions. Committee members repeatedly tied housing supply to workforce availability, tax policy and placemaking as they discussed how to keep Wausau competitive for residents and employers.

Wessel summarized the regional picture and the limits of current official projections. “They’re much lower than the ones that they did in 2013 based on the 2010 census,” he said of the state’s population projections, adding the projections “don’t really reflect huge mass migration in or out of the state” and noting anecdotal and other data point to more inbound migration in recent years.

Wessel cited several data points that committee members and staff discussed: the study’s unit projections (2,077 by 2025 and 1,153 more by 2030 for the participating municipalities), an estimated regional shortfall of roughly 40,000 units statewide reported in recent summaries, and local vacancy figures from the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent releases. He said the 2023 data show a 0% homeowner vacancy rate for the city and county (owner vacancy), rental vacancy of 5.6% for the city of Wausau and 3.6% for Marathon County.

City assistant planner Carrie Edmondson reviewed local planning context and current projects, noting the city’s 2017 comprehensive plan (a decennial update is forthcoming) and a 2020 zoning code rewrite that allows a broader range of housing types. Edmondson described ongoing programs that target existing housing stock, including homeowner and rental rehab programs and down-payment assistance.

Edmondson listed projects either completed, under construction or in planning that she said will contribute to supply: Foundry on Third (153 market-rate units, mixed-use, under construction), Westside Commons (54 income-qualified units using low-income housing tax credits, under construction), the 1 Guard project (approximately 144 market-rate units, planned groundbreaking fall 2025), 700 Grand (50 income-qualified units, LIHTC), Colby employer-led apartments (about 102 units, private employer project), and Green Tree Meadows subdivision (about 149 single-family lots, phased). Edmondson said, when totaled against the study targets, those projects put the city closer to the 2025 and 2030 goals.

Committee members raised several recurring themes during discussion. Some members emphasized that new jobs and livable wages are needed to ensure housing is occupied and financially sustainable; others warned that recruiting many jobs without addressing housing affordability could push prices higher. Alder Killian and others said privately owned rentals have seen large rent increases and asked staff to monitor whether new market-rate units are indirectly driving private landlords to raise rents.

Several members urged a broader place-making approach to retain and attract residents, pointing to riverfront redevelopment, the mall area project, recreation amenities and school programs as assets to market. Alder Henke and others framed supply increases as one lever to improve affordability, noting basic supply-and-demand dynamics.

No formal action or vote was taken; committee members directed staff to continue monitoring development activity, vacancy and rental trends and to incorporate housing objectives into upcoming planning work tied to the comprehensive plan update.

The discussion also flagged follow-up items for staff and partners: continue tracking building permits and unit completions, compile more detailed rental-market data to test claims about private-landlord rent increases, and coordinate housing strategies with workforce and economic development efforts.

City staff said the planning timeline will include the required housing chapter in the next comp plan update and that more detailed local projections may be revisited as the state issues updated household projections.