Saukville Crossings project revived

A public hearing for the long dormant Saukville Crossings development will be held Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Saukville Village Hall.

The property owner, JJM LLC, is seeking zoning changes for two parcels totaling 32.2 acres on Northwoods Road across from Applewood Drive to allow building condominiums and residential duplexes.

The two parcels are part of a 111-acre mixed-use development originally proposed about 15 years ago that was temporarily shelved by the economic recession that struck in 2008.

The project will extend from Market Street near Piggly Wiggly at the south end, north around the Feith Family YMCA to beyond the two residential lots between I-43 and Northwoods Road.

The property is currently open farmland. About 18 acres immediately north of the YMCA and on which some buildings stand are not part of the development.

Developers are proposing the larger of the two lots, about 20 acres, be subdivided into lots of 15,000 square feet for residential duplexes.

The southern portion of the other lot, about 10 acres, would be subdivided into lots of 40,000 square feet for condominiums.

More than 41 acres of the project is designated “environmental or stormwater” and more than 12 acres are tabbed for “recreation” uses, most of it at the north end nearest to I-43, according to documents submitted to the village.

About 10 acres at the south end are designated for commercial uses and another 12.5 acres at the far north end are labeled “mixed-use retail/residential,” the documents show.

Market Street, which currently ends in a wooded field near Piggly Wiggly and Camping World, will be the main road through the development, continuing north roughly parallel to I-43 before curving east to meet up with Northwoods Road near Applewood Drive.

“This rezoning request is an important first step in the larger development vision for the entire 111-acre project area,” attorney Craig Huebner, representing the ownership group, wrote in a letter to the village.

“Market conditions and local partners have changed since the inception of this project many years ago. The proposed rezoning is in line with market demand for the area and also with the immediately adjacent existing and planned uses.”

Village President Barb Dickmann said the project would be a welcome shot in the arm for the village economy.

“It would be wonderful if they could go ahead with the development now,” she said. “I believe the village doesn’t have a buildable lot right now so it would be exciting to have whatever it is they’re proposing.”

The multifamily mix of housing being proposed would fit with the single-family homes on large lots east of Northwoods Drive, Dickmann said.

“I think the way it is laid out will be a very nice fit and offer some diversity of housing options for people,” she said.

The project lies within a tax increment financing, or TIF, district, through which infrastructure improvements are paid for by diverting property tax dollars to pay for them.

Huebner referred an Ozaukee Press reporter to representatives at Ansay Development for comment. They did not return phone calls by deadline.

The public hearing on the rezoning will be held at 8 p.m. Dec. 5.