RACINE – Racine Revitalization Partnership Inc.’s (RRP) proposal to construct a three-unit townhome project at 12th Street and Highland Avenue will be considered by the city’s Planning, Heritage and Development Commission on Wednesday afternoon.
The Planning, Heritage and Development Commission meeting will be held online starting at 4:30 p.m. Click the button to join, using passcode: 341224.
RRP, a nonprofit organization dedicated to neighborhood improvement, has asked the commission to allow the three townhomes to be constructed with zero-foot lot lines. The proposed site is 9,213 square feet of vacant land that RRP acquired from the City of Racine. The property once held three separate single-family houses, which were torn down several years ago.
Each of the proposed three townhome units would have two bedrooms, a kitchen and living area over two floors, and garage space on the ground floor. The townhome units would be sold individually to first-time homeowners, said Ed Miller, RRP executive director.
The new-construction townhome design is a first for RRP, which has previously concentrated on rehabbing existing single-family and multi-family properties within the City of Racine.
“We’re approaching this from a standpoint of providing cost-effective housing,” Miller said. “We want to do what’s right for first-time homebuyers.” He added that the project’s compact, design makes it possible to accommodate the three housing units on the available land.
City Department of City Development staff has recommended approval of the project stating that “adding new housing to the neighborhood should be a benefit to the area and not a detriment,” according to a Review and Recommendation document.
If approved, construction work could start this spring and be completed in the fall, Miller said.
Miller put the townhome project’s estimated costs at $550,000 to $560,000. By constructing the project through a U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) neighborhood improvement subsidy program, each of the individual units would be marketed to first-time homebuyers at about $110,000 to $125,000.
Other RRP Projects for 2022
The 12th and Highland project would bring this year’s RRP housing units to six. Single-family house rehabs are underway at 620 Hubbard Street and at 939 Center Street, Miller said. A duplex rehab at 1635 Erie Street is also in the works. To learn more about RRP, visit their website.
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