Washington County advances NextGen housing plans for redevelopment corridor

County staff on Tuesday laid out concept plans for a redevelopment corridor in West Bend intended to add “next generation” owner-occupied housing aimed at closing a local price-point gap between what many workers can afford and what is being built.

Deb Silski, presenting the county’s redevelopment-corridor study to the Washington County Board of Supervisors, described three sites in the corridor and two concept packages for the south site. "NextGen Housing was really trying to fill that gap," Silski said, summarizing why the county has pursued the program. The presentation cited absorption estimates of roughly 425 owner-occupied units annually in the county (through 2030) and showed that much new construction begins well above the demand price range identified for many local workers.

The plans break down as follows: a North site with about 50 units (including roughly 22 duplex units), a Central site of about 47 single‑family units constrained by wetlands and shoreland protections, and a South site offered in two options — Option A (about 103 units, mixed duplexes and townhomes) and Option B (about 73 mostly single‑family units). Silski said the open house for the corridor drew roughly 30 members of the public and 10 formal preference surveys; respondents favored Option B (more single‑family) for the south site.

Board members pressed staff on affordability, homeowner fees and funding. Several supervisors noted that monthly condominium or homeowners‑association fees effectively raise the buyer’s cost and urged future presentations to reflect maintenance fees when comparing affordability. Silski agreed to add HOA and maintenance costs to future gap analyses.

The county’s current approach remains flexible on development roles. Silski said Regal Holdings participated in the task force and that the county has not finalized financial arrangements with private partners. She described the county’s standard approach to earlier NextGen developments: the county constructs infrastructure, solicits builders to build homes on discounted lots, and uses deed restrictions that phase equity accrual over several years to discourage immediate flipping.

Funding and timing: staff said engineering and planning work will continue in 2026 (including traffic impact analyses required by the City of West Bend), with infrastructure bids and possible borrowing decisions in late 2026 and construction of infrastructure and initial home building in 2027 if schedules hold. Supervisors asked staff to avoid the county “holding the paper” on home loans and to limit county financial risk by shifting development risk to builders or private developers where feasible.

Next steps: the redevelopment corridor concepts will be refined with engineering input, city approvals (comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning) and further committee consideration before the executive committee and full board take formal action.