Sturgeon Bay Approves Four-Story Apartment Building

At a special Jan. 29 session, the Sturgeon Bay Common Council gave preliminary approval to a proposed 42-unit, four-story apartment building that would be built on the corner of 2nd Ave. and Oregon St.

The developer for the project is Common Bond, a St. Paul, Minn. based non-profit that owns and operates 96 properties throughout three states. The project was pitched to the council by Chris Laurent of the Madison-based firm Urban Apex, who said he sees the building as a step towards establishing a culture of downtown living in Sturgeon Bay.

“For those who question the location and ask why would you not be on the edge of town…I think that housing choice exists, and there’s really no unique opportunity for people to live downtown,” said Laurent.

The special meeting was called because Common Bond is looking to fund the project by applying for tax credits via the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), and the application deadline for those credits is Feb. 1.

Site of proposed apartment complex.

A condition of the WHEDA funding is that potential tenants for the new building would have to income-qualify to live there, meaning they earn only 60% of the county’s median income, around $38,000.

When the council questioned exactly who would live in the building, Laurent said he was confident there’re enough working people in Door County who would meet the qualification guidelines.

“In my conversations with the Door County Economic Development Corporation, what was surprising to me was that there’re a number of folks where the breadwinner works at one of the major employers downtown and the spouse works in Northern Door. And those are situations that would likely qualify,” said Laurent. “Because a large portion of your work is seasonal, I think a large number of people would qualify.”

Alderman John Lodl, who ended up casting the only dissenting vote on the issue, wondered if the building was too compact for the site it was being built on.

“I believe our community needs something to invigorate it, especially in the areas that we’re looking in, but I think the footprint for this building is too small to put that size a building in that spot,” said Lodl. “I feel that sticking that building right up tight in that corridor doesn’t let people get a feel for what our city has to offer.”

Alderman Richard Wiesner also questioned the building’s height, which as proposed stands at a maximum of 58 feet, asking Community Development Director Marty Olejniczak how it matched up with other buildings in the area.

Olejniczak listed a number of eastside buildings that stand between 38 and 50 feet tall, including the two newer Palmer Johnson’s buildings, Stone Harbor Resort, and the Fairfield Building.

The council’s last concern was ensuring that enough parking would be available for the building’s tenants. One of the conditions of the project’s approval was that at least 56 parking spaces be made available. The building’s current plan includes 40 underground parking spaces, but the developer could buy more land to create additional parking or possibly lease spots from the city.

Near the end of the meeting, Alderman Joe Stutting laid out why he would be voting to approve the project.

“Since I’ve been around, the discussion of the problem Door County has with workforce housing has been tremendous,” said Stutting. “And here we have a developer who’s … a) helping us solve the problem and b) taking care of an eyesore. You come across the bridge in Door County and see industrial storage and the hull of a boat that’s sat there since I’ve been in town. I have a hard time not supporting something like this.”

With the project approved, Urban Apex will now submit their building to WHEDA, where Laurent says it has about a 1 in 4 chance of actually securing funding. If the developers do secure funding, the common council will get another chance to review the apartment project during its architectural design and engineering phase.