Foxconn discusses 'Smart City' to house Racine County workers
Quote:
Racine Mayor Dennis Wiser said he has heard discussions of housing for 6,000 to 8,000 people in Smart City. Beyond that kind of housing development closer to the interstate, he said Racine could encourage new upper-end apartments catering to Foxconn’s research staff members.
“We suspect the final decision for that will rest with Foxconn, and we’re going to try to address it the best we can either way,” Wiser said of housing needs.
|
Quote:
Wiser said Foxconn could support or accelerate some of Racine’s development efforts. It could create more demand for new housing or office space in the city’s Machinery Row property, which could be cleared for future development. Racine also is in the planning stages to attract a new hotel and convention center development to its downtown lakefront. Visitors to Foxconn could help generate demand for hotel rooms, Wiser said.
Under the current city vision, a hotel with about 150 rooms could be built, Wiser said.
“We have had calls from people saying that if Foxconn arrives, they would go much more than that,” Wiser said.
|
Looks like Racine County suburbs are about to give this a full-court press. Racine already has a nice, dense, downtown core situated right on Lake Michigan boasting a decent historic building stock. I would love to see that mature into something more with a nice mix of new development (low to mid-rise residential buildings) coupled with some nice historic restoration projects. This could really make Racine take off and challenge Waukesha as, IMO, Milwaukee's anchor suburb.