Officials recommend extension for Prairie’s Edge

The Port Washington Plan Commission last week recommended the city extend a conditional use permit for an assisted living facility in the proposed Prairie’s Edge subdivision.

The change, which must be approved by the Common Council, would extend the date by which property owner Black Cap Halcyon has to sell the two acres intended for the senior housing facility until July 31.

Originally, the conditional use permit called for Black Cap Halcyon to sell the land by March 1.

“I presume this is because of weather,” Mayor Marty Becker said.

Attorney Lisa Wood, who represents Black Cap Halcyon, said the extension is needed so grading on the site can be completed, a condition of the sale.

The timeline for Black Cap to sell the property to the developer of the senior living facility was set last year when the conditional use permit was approved. Aldermen at the time expressed frustration over the lack of progress on the subdivision.

The subdivision was proposed in 2017 and construction was expected to begin the following year, however no work has begun.  

A construction trailer was moved onto the site earlier this year and City Administrator Tony Brown said Tuesday that Black Cap Halcyon has submitted to the city three of the four items needed to begin grading.

They include an erosion control permit, stormwater maintenance agreement and a letter of credit. The fourth item, a certificate of liability insurance, is in the works, Brown said.

“I’d anticipate in the next month they’ll have approval to start the grading,” he said.

Before any other work could be done on the property, an addendum to the developer’s agreement must be approved, Brown said.

The addendum deals primarily with the schedule of payments Black Cap Halcyon needs to make to the city — payments that will go toward the developer’s purchase of the land from the city.

Brown said he hopes the addendum will come before the Common Council in the next month or two, paving the way for construction to begin sometime in spring. 

The proposed Prairie’s Edge subdivision would be the city’s largest, built on 35 acres on the bluff just south of the We Energies power plant.

The 36-unit, 26,000-square-foot assisted living and memory care facility replaces a 10,000-square-foot commercial building and eight townhouse condominiums originally planned for the site.

It would anchor the northern phase of the subdivision, which when completed is expected to add almost $60 million to the city’s tax base with 34 single-family houses, 16 pocket neighborhood single-family homes, 20 townhouses and 156 apartments, as well as 40,000 square feet of commercial space in addition to the senior living facility.