Developer talks up plan for school subdivision

The builder of a proposed subdivision on Fredonia’s north end has hopes almost as high as community leaders for the project.

“This is an extremely exciting project because all the constituents are working together, including the schools and the village,” said Oyvind Solvang, the Norwegian-born owner of Glenbeulah-based Hillcrest Builders.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before. This village is so positive and so proactive. We’re very excited.” 

Hillcrest Builders bought about 40 acres north and west of the Northern Ozaukee Schools campus. Solvang said he hopes to build about 100 units, including about 80 single-family homes and 20 or so ranch condominiums.

It would be the first sizable development in Fredonia in more than a decade, when already-approved projects faltered during the recession, and would help jump start economic development in the area, officials say.

Solvang recently toured the campus with district Supt. Dave Karrels and village Trustee Dan Gehrke, who also is a real-estate agent with Hillcrest Builders.

Solvang said the school district has an element that will help Hillcrest market homes built there.

“They have a super facility,” he said of the recently expanded and remodeled school campus.

“We’re going to allow kids to walk to school and will include a trail that will allow kids to walk directly to school. This will be a really good candidate for people who want a new home, a good school and a totally commutable distance to the Milwaukee area for people who need to get to work.

“Some people may just want to live in a smaller community, as well. I just think that kids being able to walk to school in a small town setting so close to Milwaukee is a very compelling thing.”

Solvang said he expects home and lot packages to sell  in  the mid- to high-$200,000 range, a price point he said would appeal to many families. He envisions the subdivision being “neo-urban,” with smaller yards but larger open spaces for trails and other amenities.

Solvang said that may include using the “enormous amount of fill dirt” on the property to create some kind of feature.

The company has subdivisions throughout southeast Wisconsin, including in Grafton and Port Washington.

The land at the north end of Milwaukee Street and the east end of Deer Meadow Drive was originally platted as the next phase of the troubled Village Green development, originally envisioned as an upscale 328-lot subdivision designed by Regency Hills Development Corp. and MasterCraft Builders.

But that project came to a screeching halt, as did other local developments — including the 240-acre Cobblestone Village east of Highway 57 and north of Highway A — with the onset of the recession in 2008. 

Solvang said his company is currently working on conceptual layouts and hopes to break ground in the spring.

“We’re not going to sit around,” he said.

Fredonia Public Works Director Roger Strohm said there have been meetings with staff from Hillcrest, but nothing is on an upcoming Plan Commission or Village Board agenda.

If everything were to go smoothly, Strohm said, it would take at least three or four months to get all the necessary approvals and hold the required public hearings.

That would include a public hearing before finalizing a developer’s agreement to detail what the village will do and pay for.

“It would be an aggressive schedule,” Strohm said.

“If they want to (break ground in April), they should be here in January with a concept plan. They need to get the school on board as well if there are any impacts there. They have a lot to do to make this work.”

Strohm said Hillcrest could hasten the process a bit by taking advantage of the fact that six to 10 lots already have access to village sewer and water.