LAWRENCE, Wis. (WFRV) – A multi-million dollar development project could be coming to one of the barren fields along I-41 in Brown County.
Developers from Boardwalk Development Company want to create what they’re calling the ‘Lawrence Town Center’ in a 153-acre space between I-41, Freedom Road, and Williams Grant Drive. Their vision is to build homes and stores around a new park that will include amenities like basketball and pickleball courts, a splash pad, and a community center.
“I think it’s going to be a real sense of place, a sense of community,” said Boardwalk Development Company CEO Jim Ostrom. “A cool little vibe as it develops.”
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Ostrom said he spent his weekend meticulously drawing a map that includes all the details of his vision for the development. It would include a six-acre lake, an island, more than 4000 new trees, walking trails, and green spaces.
They would also build 110 single-family homes, 45 townhouses, and mixed-used venues that they hope will attract small business owners.
Ostrom said some of the other features of the development would include pickleball and basketball courts, a playground and a splash pad, a community center, an exercise facility, a picnic pavilion, a fitness center, ice skating, a dog park, a yoga lawn, elegant park lights, and bridges, landscaping, and sculptures.
He said most of the amenities would be open for public use.
“A destination within the town of Lawrence where people from all over can come and enjoy it,” he said.
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The project will cost about $215 million and it will take about a decade to fully complete. Ostrom said private funding will cover most of the costs, but that they will need to have a tax increment financing district.
He said with the I-41 expansion project there’s more demand for developments like this along the highway.
“It’s going to get better every decade because of the planting and the park investment we’re making,” he said. “As it develops over time over the decades, 40 years from now, a generation from now we will be looking back at it and saying it’s a special place that’s my goal.”
In 2021, there was a plan in place to use this same piece of land for a 2.9-million-square-foot, five-story warehouse. This project ultimately fell through, but feedback from the public indicated the community would rather use this land for shops or restaurants. Ostrom said he used this feedback to develop this new idea for the ‘Lawrence Town Center.’
The project has to go through town approval and Ostrom said there are multiple public comment sessions planned as well.
“One of my life goals is to build a special park, a special place and I get to do it,” he said. “Not everyone gets to live out some of their life dreams and that’s one of mine.”
