Early plans for a massive new subdivision proposed in Kenosha County have a green light to move forward.

The Pleasant Prairie village board on Monday approved a master concept plan for a 735-unit subdivision valued at up to $500 million that would be known as Highland Estates.

As southeast Wisconsin and much of the nation face a housing shortage, the project would create single- and two-family houses for both homebuyers and renters and offer a unique financing program to encourage homeownership. It would likely be among the largest subdivisions built in the area since the Great Recession slowed local homebuilding activity.

The project has support from business and government leaders who see a need for housing in the corridor between Milwaukee and Chicago, which has experienced a recent industrial boom as employers like Uline Inc., Haribo and Microsoft Corp. create jobs in the area.

“We’ve already received tremendous interest from the local builder community,” Highland Estates developer Sanjay Kuttemperoor of ZL River Development LLC told the Milwaukee Business Journal. “The reality is that after 2008 and 2009, there have been no significant developments of any scale that had been brought online and so inventory is very constrained.”

ZL River Development would work with multiple local and potentially regional builders on the project, Kuttemperoor said. It would include 489 single-family homes and 246 two-family units.

The project would have a total build-out value of $400 million to $500 million, with construction expected to take five to 15 years. The development firm plans to privately finance the project through investors, Kuttemperoor said.

Read more at the Milwaukee Business Journal.