NEENAH (NBC 26) — A long-vacant school site in Neenah is finally getting a new life.
The city is breaking ground on a major redevelopment of the former Shattuck Middle School property, digging a stormwater pond, the first step before Van's Realty and Construction begins work on a subdivision.
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The land has been platted for a new neighborhood with 31 planned single-family lots.
Kelly Nieforth, Neenah's director of community development and assessment, says although the project isn't lead by the city, it fits into a much larger need. A recent study showed Neenah needs hundreds of new housing units to stay on top of growing demand — units for all income levels.
"We are looking for more single family housing so Court Side Field, 31 new lots, is going to be a great addition to meet the needs of that study," Nieforth said.
"That's apartments, that's condos, that's townhouses, its single family homes across all different income tiers and stages in their life when they may need different kinds of housing," Nieforth said.
Nieforth says projects like this planned one have domino effects, with people moving into slightly more expensive homes opening up more affordable ones.
Housing advocates say the market is undersupplied. Eric Cernjar, vice president of marketing and advocacy for Habitat for Humanity, says affordability remains a core challenge.
"Short answer is, incomes are rising but the prices of housing is rising much much faster," Cernjar said.
He says one challenge is keeping people from becoming "cost-burdened" — meaning they spend 30% or more of their income on housing. Currently, more than 15% of homeowners and over a third of renters in the valley are cost-burdened, according to the Fox Valley Data Exchange.
