State at Main
The Opportunity
Racine was working to bring residents, investment and daily activity back to its downtown. A prominent Main Street site offered the chance to create a northern anchor that combined housing with commercial activity.
The Challenge
The development had to support downtown revitalization while making distinct components — affordable active-adult apartments, market-rate ownership housing and retail — work together financially and physically.
The Approach
Use a multi-part program to grow downtown population and street activity: 84 active-adult apartments, ground-floor retail and market-rate condominiums in a single urban redevelopment.
The Result
The rental component includes 84 apartments, 66 of them income-restricted. The broader State at Main development also brought retail and market-rate condominiums to Racine’s downtown.
Why It Matters
Housing can be a downtown economic-development strategy — adding residents, supporting commercial activity and helping re-establish a traditional urban center as a place to live as well as work.