Little Dousman sees big plans for multi-use development along highways 18 and 67

Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·5 min read
The sign by Point Real Estate points to a major development that is advancing through the planning stages for the southeast quadrant of highways 18 and 67 in the village of Dousman. If fully built as conceived in conceptual documents, the 145-acre parcel would include single-family homes, condos, apartments and commercial buildings.
The sign by Point Real Estate points to a major development that is advancing through the planning stages for the southeast quadrant of highways 18 and 67 in the village of Dousman. If fully built as conceived in conceptual documents, the 145-acre parcel would include single-family homes, condos, apartments and commercial buildings.

DOUSMAN - Along a stretch of the Glacial Drumlin State Trail, at the point where it bends sharply north/south and then east/west, sits a rural field and woodland that's long been a familiar sight to bicyclists and pedestrians.

It's marked by a sharp incline as it parallels U.S. Highway 18, just east of State Highway 67, where passing traffic zips by at speeds that make the 145-acre parcel of land behind the trail barely noticeable — at least in comparison to the much-slower traffic on the trail. But if plans hold, all traffic, fast or slow, will soon take notice.

A development proposal that has already surmounted several key steps would feature more than 140 single-family houses, 300 apartment units, condominiums and commercial buildings along a major intersection whose southeast quadrant, to date, has been completely vacant aside from the cornfield and trees.

About 26 acres would be preserved as a conservancy area, maintaining some of the rural woodland character of the development whose name, Talbot's Woods, alludes to the stand of trees.

This segment of a preliminary plat shows the residential side of a 145-acre development planned for Highway 18 east of Highway 67 in the village of Dousman. The residences east of a wooded conservancy would feature single-family and low-density condominium buildings. The west side would include apartments and businesses.
This segment of a preliminary plat shows the residential side of a 145-acre development planned for Highway 18 east of Highway 67 in the village of Dousman. The residences east of a wooded conservancy would feature single-family and low-density condominium buildings. The west side would include apartments and businesses.

Development would dramatically add to village's tax base

What makes the large-scale development more surprising is its new jurisdiction: the once-tiny-but-growing village of Dousman, home to about 2,500 today and little more than 1,000 about 30 years earlier.

MLG Capital, a Brookfield-based real estate firm acting as the land developer, is leading the effort to turn the field into a major construction initiative, one that would involve non-affiliated builders of homes, condos and commercial properties over the course of many years. But it could all start in 2024, following an extended period that involved putting together the pieces in conjunction with Dousman officials.

"We've been planning this with the village for over than two years, making sure it is being developed correctly," said Joe Bukovich, vice president and development engineer with Point Real Estate, affiliated with MLG Capital. "There was difficulty trying to get sewer services to the site, so it didn't get a lot of traction right away."

MLG ultimately decided the best route to development, financially speaking, was to ask the village for $27.7 million in tax-increment financing assistance, a funding mechanism that uses some of the new property dollars generated by the improved property. According to the term sheet included with the TIF proposal, the development would increase the property's value to about $95 million by 2036.

The TIF money would be used to extend the sewer lines and improve Grove Street to the rural land, Bukovich said. The financial package will also include $14 million in developer incentives for the various types of construction within the 145-acre site. (The land had been annexed from the town of Ottawa in 2022 and also attached to the village under a 2009 boundary agreement with the town of Summit earlier, which also cleared the way for a practical development plan, he added.)

On Sept. 6, following a public hearing that generated no comments, the Dousman Plan Commission approved a resolution establishing the TIF district's boundaries.

"It will be a very good project for the village," Bukovich said. "It will increase their tax base, which is needed, ... and help them be sustainable in the future."

Talbot's Woods, the name given to the 145-acre development area largely consisting of homes, would include a 26-acre conservancy area dominated by woodland. The planned development is along highways 18 and 67, as well as the Glacial Drumlin State Trail, in the village of Dousman.
Talbot's Woods, the name given to the 145-acre development area largely consisting of homes, would include a 26-acre conservancy area dominated by woodland. The planned development is along highways 18 and 67, as well as the Glacial Drumlin State Trail, in the village of Dousman.

Various builders would be involved in the development

Strictly speaking, MLG wouldn't be the sole investor of the high-profile parcel, which MLB has an agreement to acquire from the Lad Lake youth counseling organization. The plan envisions building developers investing in construction and lot sales or leases to users.

In its Talbot's Woods, MLG would offer 143 lots to builders of single-family homes — either to individual homeowners or homebuilding companies interested in multiple lots, ranging in size from 12,000 to 23,000 square feet.

The real estate company's role in the remaining land — 13 acres of "general residence" homes (mostly low-density condominiums), 19 acres of multi-family apartments (maximum 15 units per acre) and 9 acres of "highway business" commercial buildings — would be to attract other developers. Those investors would be enticed by the new infrastructure and preliminary land work already in place, Bukovich said.

The commercial aspect opens many possibilities.

"It could be a wide gamut of anything that's commercial," he said. "A pharmacy, a veterinarian, medical — you name it. There's a wide range."

As planned, the 26-acre wooded conservancy area would split the development down the middle, with the west side consisting of the single-family and low-density condo homes and the west side (nearest the intersection of highways 18 and 67) consisting of the apartments and commercial buildings.

Plans are well underway and advancing to final steps

Village officials did not respond to requests to discuss aspects of the development plan, which has already passed the concept stage as well as a preliminary plat approval.

It still faces several more steps before construction can begin in 2024. Among those is road access approvals from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to accommodate the full development. A traffic study has already been completed, Bukovich said.

MLG hopes to begin grading the land later this year.

The development adds to another major initiative, the addition of senior housing, to Dousman's growing village.

Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or  james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Plans for big development along highways 18 and 67 advance in Dousman