Mar. 8, 2024 1:45p
(WGTD)---Additional signs of progress in Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian’s nine-block downtown redevelopment project could come as early as next month. That’s when a vacant bank drive-thru could be torn down, making way for the project’s first building: A five-story structure with 158, market-rate apartments.
Thursday night the Kenosha Plan Commission recommended approval of a zoning change for the building, along with a ten-story apartment building located kitty-corner to the first just west of 6th Ave.
Developer Shawn Roberts said building the smaller of the two structures first was the result of a strategic decision. "We need that catalytic project that makes the most sense that can push the market and help us to continue to roll right thru the project," he said.
Construction on the first building could begin later this summer, with completion estimated to be in spring of 2026. Construction on the second building could start soon after that.
No one spoke against any aspect of the two buildings that were presented last night. Plan Commissioner Lydia Spottswood, a frequent critic of building designs, had nothing but praise for the look of both apartment buildings that went before the panel last night.
The entire nine-block project is expected to take 7-10 years to complete, and includes construction of a new Municipal Building.
Meanwhile, some new details emerged at a the Plan Commission on plans by a company to build a $39 million manufacturing plant on the city’s far west side.
Schuetz Container Systems plans to make plastic drums and bulk containers in a building that’s going to go up south of 60th St. and between the Canadian Pacific and Union Pacific tracks.
The company was initially expected to employ just under 100. But a company representative said last night that the plant eventually will run two shifts with a total of 200 workers.
Each week Schuetz is expected to receive eight rail cars of plastic pellets to be used in the manufacturing process. The company is expected to generate a lot of truck traffic, but trucks will enter and leave the property via Highway 50.
Questions about the company’s operational plans, including the amount of noise that’s expected to be generated, delayed approval by the commission. It’s been put off to the panel’s next meeting in two weeks.
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