The City of Stevens Point has several enviable community strengths, including a stable and growing employment base and a University of Wisconsin campus. Despite these strengths, the City has been struggling to attract investment in new and existing housing units, while that investment lands in surrounding jurisdictions. The City is willing to invest resources to guide and encourage development, but wanted guidance on how best to do that.

In 2017, MSA conducted a holistic study of the local and regional housing market, evaluating the dynamics of these markets through a synthesis of Census data, parcel data, home sales data, a community survey, and interviews with local experts in various aspects of the market. Through this process we identified several critical factors inhibiting investment, including a lack of available land for growth, regulatory hurdles to multifamily development (especially in existing neighborhoods), and an overabundance of low-quality homes that owners aren’t improving and buyers are avoiding. We also affirmed the value of some current practices and policies to regulate student rental housing units.

The study identifies a series of gaps in the housing market and offers strategies to close those gaps, including regulatory adjustments, neighborhood planning efforts, public infrastructure investments, and a menu of potential incentive programs. Already implementing many of the study’s recommendations, Stevens Point is working to ensure a successful and sustainable future for their housing market and the residents within their community.