East Thomas St. lots in Wausau could supply new homes

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - After gaining several open lots, the City of Wausau is turning to taxpayers for advice on what to do with them. The city will hold a public neighborhood meeting on Monday to answer questions and lay out plans for the East Thomas Street neighborhood.

The city has recognized the need for single-family homes and is asking the community to provide some input through a visual preference survey, an input tool that is utilized by designers and urban planners.

Development Director Liz Brodek said the surveys are used to provide the city guidance while at the same time, offering people in the community a chance to be a part of the local redevelopment process.

“It’s really exciting to think that we could do something for the neighborhood that is truly neighborhood driven,” said Brodek. “The impact to the neighborhood would be significant to be able to add some homes back to the tax base, make them affordable to the price point to the homes that were lost to the reconstruction project.”

The city currently owns 13 lots, while as many as 10 single-family homes could be added.

Brodek added that the city is projecting late this summer into late fall to gather options and designs for what the lots could become. Once they receive final feedback and tweak some things, they hope to put out bids to contractors.

There are two public meetings being held:

3/27 at GD Jones Cafeteria

118 S. 12th Ave Wausau

5:30 p.m.

4/5 at Riverside Park, Shelter

100 Sherman St. Wausau

5:30 p.m.

Copyright 2023 WSAW. All rights reserved.