Monday, September 9, 2024
By James Card
Over the coming year a new neighborhood will emerge in Waupaca. More details about the new homes and apartments were revealed at an open house at the Waupaca County Club on July 29.
The new neighborhood will be called River North Ridge and it will be situated in the large farm field that is between Royalton Street and Godfrey Drive.
Aaron Jensen, Waupaca’s city administrator, addressed the gathering on how this project was set in motion. In 2019 and 2020, the city had conversations with local employers about the city’s economic development plans.
“Now, five years after that, it’s no surprise that housing is one of those things that is being talked about in municipalities’ across the state and across the country. In that five years we were lucky enough to work with a council that was super supportive of growth in this area,” said Jensen.
Besides the housing crunch, another was lack of workforce.
“How the heck do you attract people to come to your community if you don’t have any place to put them?” he said.
The city partnered with Tycore Built, a construction and development firm out of Green Bay.
The first phase will be building 35 single-family homes and 124 apartment units.
Construction will start this autumn by building roads. They will start with six to eight houses immediately and then two or three apartment buildings. Another phase will include 76 owner-occupied houses and 120 apartment units.
Tycore Built owner Wade Micoley said his company has undertaken similar project in other communities and their specialty is building workforce housing.
“There is a huge need for this all over the place. The trick is getting it affordable and the TIF we were able to accomplish that to be able to keep the prices down so we can move more product and have a nice quality product for a very competitive price,” said Micoley.
The single-fammily homes come in a variety of sizes and styles. On the low end, a 1,065 square-foot home will cost $249,000. On the high end, a 1,916 square-foot home with a couple garage stalls will be $399,000. Buyers will be able to customize the homes to an extent with colors, both inside and out, such as the roof and flooring.
All houses are turnkey, as in once an offer is made, the buyer does not have to get financing to buy the house.
The apartment buildings with attached garages will have private entrances and no shared hallways. They will start at $1,075 per month. There are one or two bedroom options with in-unit laundry and furnished with appliances. On the back side, units will have covered patios.
Tycore Built will own the apartments and Micoley said they are not in the business of building apartments and flipping them although many builders do that. He said they have a popular program where a person that is buying a home can temporarily rent a unit while the home is being built and the rent is taken out of the equity.
Micoley lifted up a portfolio and called it a “move-in book.” It’s educational material about warranty and maintenance tips for both houses and apartments.
He said that Tycore Built works with local businesses to include coupons and advertisements. The idea behind it is that not all of the buyers will be local and will be uninformed about what local businesses have to offer.
For the home-buying phase, the process is through an app called Cashifyd. Local real estate agents can be listed but a unique feature of the app for a home buyer is that their personal contact information will be anonymous so they do not get spammed by aggressive agents. Their contact information will be shared only when the buyer picks an agent to work with.
The referral fee is paid to Cashifyd and Tycore Built gives that money back to the buyer as an interested party contribution.
“On a typical house they are going to get about $1,260 back that they can use for a down payment or closing costs or putting in their lawn,” said Micoley.
The project will cost $69 million project will add $28 million to Waupaca’s tax rolls.
