Beloit expected to give $1 million to local builder to start more homes in city

BELOIT — The Beloit City Council on Monday is expected to approve a resolution giving a $1 million development incentive to Next Generation Construction to build 138 homes in the city.

In February, the council approved a one-time “New Market Housing Incentive” in money generated from expiring Tax Increment Financing districts to spur more single-family housing building in the city.

The city was open to either giving $500,000 each to two developers or the entire $1 million to one. Five companies submitted proposals.

“Staff is recommending the Next Gen project due to the sheer number of units versus the others and the alignment with the goals and objectives of the program,” Beloit Economic Development Director Drew Pennington said in an email.

The largest of the other four proposals was an apartment/townhome project that would have added 40 units on Sixth Street.

Next Generation, based at 430 E. Grand Ave., was launched in 2016 and, according to the company’s proposal, has built more than 500 homes in Wisconsin. Next Generation has been an increasingly busy builder in the Beloit area, although this proposal would vastly increase its work in the city.

According to City of Beloit and Town of Beloit records, Next Generation has built or is in the process of building 52 homes in Beloit since the beginning of 2020. Of those, only 13 have been in the city and 39 have been in the town. This year, Next Generation has taken out permits for four Town of Beloit homes on Pow Wow Trail.

The $1 million from the city would go towards offsetting the development costs — water and sewer mains, electric and natural gas lines, sidewalks, roads — of a 42-acre two-section development the company is calling The Meadows at Creek Woods and The Enclave at Creek Woods.

Located along Murphy Woods Road and Shopiere Road just a short drive from an Interstate-90 interchange and in the Beloit Turner School District, the development would be built in two halves. The Meadows at Creek Woods would feature 46 single-family homes with starting prices between $325,000 to $355,000, and 40 attached townhome units with prices ranging from $270,000 to $285,000. The Enclave at Creek Woods would feature 46 single-family homes at a price point of $415,000 to $450,000 and six duplex units with a $325,000 sale price.

The New Housing Market Rate Incentive is the latest in a series of moves by the city over the past 18 months from the TIF proceeds to increase the number of new housing units in the city.

* In May 2024, the city sold 23 lots acquired through the tax foreclosure process to an Illinois homebuilder who committed to building homes at a middle-income price range.
* In June, the city approved giving $3 million each to two developers who want build affordable housing projects on Riverside Drive and in the Gateway business district. Those projects, when completed, will add 149 apartment units to the city.
* In the spring of 2024, the city awarded $363,010 to six property owners to remodel the upper floors of their buildings to create 13 new apartment units.

Last year was a strong one for Beloit home building with builders taking out 85 single-family home permits in Beloit, 46 in the city and 39 in the town. That was up from just 48 taken out in the city and town in 2023. Still, a housing demand study in 2022 showed that 250 new units were needed each year to keep up with demand and slow the rising home buying costs that is pricing many families out of the housing market.