It’s been widely reported that, for years, housing growth has not kept up with job growth in Kenosha County. Between 2010 and 2023, the county experienced upwards of a 30% increase in jobs, while housing units only increased around 5% in the same timeframe, according to multiple reports, making its housing shortage among the most acute in the state.

That narrative could be changing, however, as the county is starting to see an uptick in housing proposals, approvals and groundbreakings that could deliver thousands of units to the area.

In downtown Kenosha, Milwaukee-based Cobalt Partners and Fond du Lac-based C.D. Smith have begun construction on the first of several buildings that could deliver more than 1,000 housing units. In Pleasant Prairie, Brookfield-based ZL Development is anticipating an early 2025 groundbreaking for the first of 705 owner-occupied housing units.

There’s also a 719-unit development with apartments, duplexes and single-family homes from Milwaukee-based Three Leaf Partners and Kenosha-based Land Quest that was proposed and gained approval from the Village of Somers earlier this year, and a 702-unit apartment proposal from Chicago-based Bond Cos. that received initial approval from the Village of Pleasant Prairie recently.

That’s not to mention smaller projects like a 97-unit proposal in Somers, a 215-unit apartment proposal on the former Dairyland Greyhound Park site in Kenosha and several other small subdivisions throughout the county that are at various stages of the development pipeline.

While many of these projects are multi-phased and still need to secure financing and approvals, several area stakeholders agree that things are finally moving in the right direction.

Read more in the BizTimes.