‘There’s nothing like this around’

Ansay to break ground for unique development in Saukville that will create hundreds of homes, jobs for people including those with disabilities through Mel’s Charities partnership

THE PLAZA ON the south end of the Northern Gateway project, known as Mel’s Village in honor of Mel’s Charities, is shown in the foreground of this rendering presented last year by the architectural firm Rinka. The plaza would be surrounded by a variety of shops, restaurants, an indoor sports venue, hotel and other amenities.
By 
KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM
Ozaukee Press staff

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held in Saukville Thursday, Aug. 31, for one of the most unique developments in the area — the Northern Gateway Community Collective.

The development on the village’s east side will not only be the largest in the community’s history, it marks a unique partnership that will draw needed housing to the area as well as employers.

But the most unique aspect is the one that makes it most special, Mike and Kate Ansay of Ansay Development said Monday.

The development will include a significant amount of housing for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as employment opportunities for them — a need that’s acute in Ozaukee County and elsewhere.

There will be a headquarters for Mel’s Charities, which focuses on improving the lives of people with disabilities, and opportunities for the organization to not only become more visible but to raise the money needed to be sustainable over time.

“There’s nothing like this around,” Tom Stanton, executive director of Mel’s Charities, said Tuesday. “This has it all, places to live, work and play.

“But this isn’t a special needs community. That’s the key to this — it’s for everybody. It’s integrated.”

The businesses that are locating in the Gateway development have all signed on to employ individuals with disabilities without prompting, Stanton said.

When talking to these companies and pitching the idea, he said, “I didn’t hardly get the words out of my mouth before they said, ‘We’re in.’

“To see businesses Mel’s had never been part of before say that, it’s humbling and we’re grateful.”

The Gateway project was built by what Stanton called the “dream team,” Ansay Development, Three Leaf Partners, Mel’s and the Village of Saukville.

“Getting Three Leaf involved was a game-changer for us,” Kate Ansay, the company’s director of acquisitions, said, noting  Three Leaf is also a mission-based firm.

Three Leaf came to mind as a partner because of Ansay’s work with Catalyst Construction. Matt Burow, CEO of Catalyst, co-founded Three Leaf with Pat Connaughton of the Milwaukee Bucks, who is Three Leaf’s CEO.

And the village’s help was vital, both Kate and Mike Ansay, Ansay Development’s managing general partner, said.

“She (former Village President Barb Dickmann) was the champion of it,” Mike Ansay said. “Without her and (Village Administrator) Dawn Wagner, it wouldn’t have happened.”

They, along with the village staff and officials, worked with Ansay to refine the vision of the development and then create a tax incremental financing district to help pay for the infrastructure needed to support it.

Without the TIF district, Mike Ansay said, the development would not have happened.

“This is really a blighted property,” he said, noting that a significant portion of the land is wetlands and “difficult soils” dot the property. “The TIF allows us to take the risk.”

But because it’s a pay-as-you-go TIF, he said, the developer, not the village, holds the risk.

But, Mike Ansay said, it really started with Mel’s and the nonprofit’s relationship with former Ozaukee County Administrator and Ansay Holdings President Tom Meaux.

Meaux knew of the needs of the special needs community and the work Mel’s was doing, Ansay said, and he brought them to the table.

The concept fit with Ansay’s mission to help others, he said.

“My dad always said you have to give to get. That’s our mission,” Ansay said.

Ansay said he had owned the 99 acres earmarked for the Gateway project for about 25 years, and while the company had proposed several other developments there, none of them was right.

That is, until Meaux brought in Mel’s, he said.

Ansay said he charged Kate Ansay  and Ian McCain, the firm’s director of development, with coming up with a vision for the property.

“With their vision, it started to happen,” he said.

“Obviously this is the right purpose for the land. You can tell by the way it’s clicking,” Kate Ansay said, adding, “For me, development is a way to make a community grow better together.”

The Gateway development consists of two campuses. The northern campus will be home to American Orthodontics, a Sheboygan-based firm that makes supplies used by orthodontists throughout the world, including appliances, wires and instruments, as well as a variety of housing options, including 300 to 400 apartments, 30 to 40 single-family homes and a senior memory care facility.

“American Orthodontics was a linchpin,” Kate Ansay said. “They’re bringing a lot of jobs — well paying, good jobs — to Ozaukee County. And their culture is phenomenal.”

A road will connect the north campus with the south campus, which will be home to Mel’s Village, where there will be 130 to 170 apartments, 25% of which will be reserved for people with disabilities and managed by Balance Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the county.

There will also be an 80 to 100-room hotel, an event space, a restaurant and the Northern Gateway Sports Academy — a new facility operated by Chapman Basketball Academy of Mequon that will offer a wide range of sports programs, camps and after-school activities — as well as some commercial and retail spaces.

The sports academy, which will bring in thousands of people for tournaments on some weekends, will anchor the plaza, which will serve as a hub for Mel’s and the other facilities, Kate Ansay said, adding public events will also be held at the plaza.

Each of these facilities will complement the others, the Ansays said, noting that the hotel will be used to house players and families attending tournaments, who will also eat at the restaurant.

“All the pieces are important,” Kate Ansay said.

Mike Ansay said he expects 80% of the development to be completed within five years and the rest in eight to 10 years.

The development is expected to add $160 million to the village’s tax base.

“It’s transformational in a lot of ways,” Mike Ansay said.

But for Stanton, the impact can be defined in a simpler way.

“It’s just going to bring so much joy,” he said.

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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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