MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Three years after the city bought just over 20 acres of land along the Manitowoc River, downtown Manitowoc took a major step toward its future.
Allie Family Companies, in partnership with Consolidated Construction, broke ground on the River North Apartments on Wednesday morning.
It will feature more than 80 market-rate apartments, heated underground parking and a large gym for its residents.
A 560 square foot studio apartment is $850 per month, and a 3 bedroom will run tenants $2,150.
The owner of Allie Family Companies, Alex Allie, tells FOX 11 demand for apartments is already high.
“It’s a total of 87 apartments and it’s a mix of micros, what we call studios, ones, twos, and threes. We haven’t been doing too much advertising other than the job signs that we have up, and we’ve had tremendous demand for residents.”
The new development is part of a plan by Mayor Justin Nickels to bring the city’s downtown area to life, with new businesses and entertainment options to boot.
Nickels says that affordable housing, while not featured at River North, was considered for the site. But that doesn’t mean it’s going unnoticed.
“We have some buildings on the outskirts of downtown here that are under development as we spoke for income restricted housing. Especially we’re working with one right now on for senior income restricted housing.”
The main boulevard, which right now is unnamed, was purposefully made wider than normal. It’s Nickels’ hope that it will be closed for events more than it’s opened to traffic.
Nickels adds people want to move to the core of cities.
And with Manitowoc being 151 years old, it’s time bring the energy back to downtown.
He hopes the additions of a river walk and kayak launches help.
“A few years ago you wouldn’t even see people recreating on the river and kayaks or boats,” said Nickels. “Now, you come here in the summer, it’s packed full. That’s exactly what we want.”
The apartments are scheduled to be completed in late October of 2022, and the city will complete it’s infrastructure at River Point at the same time.
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