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Home Kenosha program reports builder agreements and lot approvals; staff cites $700,000-plus acquisition funds
Summary
City staff reported progress under the Home Kenosha program: Torsen Builders has broken ground on 10 lots, NewGen Homes has five lots in permitting, and staff are drafting development and financing agreements for additional lots. The redevelopment authority received and filed the update.
The Redevelopment Authority of the City of Kenosha received and filed a staff update on the Home Kenosha program, which supports construction of owner-occupied houses on city lots.
Taylor, a city staff member, told the authority that Torsen Builders and Properties is building 10 houses and has already broken ground, and that NewGen Homes (doing business as Rocketman Investments/NewGen) is going through permitting for five homes. Taylor said city staff were working with a home builder and a lender—described in the presentation as “State Bank with the Lakes”—to draft a development agreement and loan financing for four scattered lots in Wilson.
The staff presentation also said the city was working with another builder to draft a development agreement and loan financing for five lots in the Uptown neighborhood (part of the Uptown East redevelopment area). If those early-stage negotiations are successful, staff said the five Uptown houses would be owner-occupied and priced at $325,000 or below.
Taylor said the city had “$700,000 plus right now in acquisition funds” and that staff were continuing to comb through city-owned lots and to look for orphan parcels that could be combined to produce additional building lots.
Authority members praised the program’s quick response from builders and discussed plans for large-format signage on the development corridors and the possibility of a future ground-breaking event. The authority voted by voice to receive and file the program report; no ordinance, appropriation or formal approvals of individual development agreements were made at the meeting.
Staff identified next steps including drafting development agreements, finalizing loan terms with lenders and coordinating signage and community outreach. Any development agreements and financing would require subsequent staff and authority approvals as appropriate.
