Category News

Middleton Zoning code wins Best Practice APA award

MIDDLETON, WISC. – Middleton Zoning Code rewrite has won the American Planning Association – Wisconsin Chapter (APA-WI) Best Practice 2024 award. The award was presented at the annual conference held in Madison on September 12, 2024.

The APA-WI praised the project for being a model for municipalities across the state. The president of APA-WI, Kara Homan, said that the project is an example of a community working to understand and solve the issues they face. 

Accepting the award for Vandewalle & Associates was Ben Rohr, Associate Planner. Ben stated, “Many others in the firm had a hand in this project … and pretty much everyone at Vandewalle & Associates has contributed to Middleton’s success over the years in one way or another. This is just another example to add to that long (and growing) list.”

Assistant Planner position opening

Our mission-driven planning, design, and economic development firm is seeking an Assistant Planner to support a variety of planning, redevelopment, economic development, and related projects. The right candidate will share this enthusiasm and embrace the tremendous opportunity to both learn from and contribute to this exceptional team.

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Water Council celebrates 15 years of impact

MILWAUKEE, WIS. The Water Council, a global water technology hub sprung from the water industry assets of the greater Milwaukee region, is celebrating its 15th anniversary of action, economic development, and global impact. In this video founding president and CEO Dean Amhaus remarks on Water Council history, major milestones and future. In so doing he gives a nod to the foundational Milwaukee 7 economic asset analysis done by the Vandewalle & Associates team.

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Hancock County plan wins APA award

MUNCIE, IN (excerpts from Greenfield Reporter) — Hancock County and the City of Greenfield each scored a big win at the American Planning Association’s spring conference in Muncie.

The Indiana Chapter of the APA hosted the event at the Ball State University Alumni Center, honoring professional planners and other city and county officials who have excelled in planning for success in communities throughout the state.

Hancock County’s planning director, Kayla Brooks, accepted the award for the county’s 2024 comprehensive plan, which was facilitated by Wisconsin-based Vandewalle & Associates.

A video of the APA Awards can be found here.

Madison advances Sustainability Campus to divert waste, create local circular economies

DANE COUNTY, WISC. (excerpts from landfill.countyofdane.com) – With less than 5 years of landfill space remaining at Dane County’s Rodefeld Landfill, the county has an opportunity to create an innovative plan for its future waste stream.   

A vision has been developed for this site on the East Side of Madison that includes development of a sustainable business park or “Sustainability Campus” to divert waste and create local circular economies. 

This will be accomplished by attracting reuse, repair, and recycling businesses; new waste management technologies; and research.

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Kewauskum announces draft of Downtown Revitalization Plan

KEWASKUM — (excerpts from gmtoday.com): The Village of Kewauskum recently held an open house in the Kewaskum Municipal Annex Building for residents to learn the third draft of the Downtown Revitalization Plan (DRP), hear updates on the new Kewaskum Municipal Building (which was covered in the Jan. 4 Daily News) and share their thoughts about the projects, specifically the DRP, with village representatives and associates from Vandewalle & Associates.

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Next Steps for Next Generation Housing in Washington County

JACKSON, WISCONSIN – The Vandewalle & Associates team has been hard at work implementing the Washington County Next Generation Housing (NGH) Initiative’s pilot development in the Village of Jackson in partnership with Village and County leaders.

Aimed at leveraging a novel funding structure to provide 1,000 new-construction, owner-occupied housing units to address workforce housing needs throughout Washington County by 2032, the NGH initiative will seek to ensure that 75% of the program’s housing units are sold for no more than $320,00 and that 100% are sold for no more than $420,000.

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Madison Johnson-Broom Student Housing Project Receives First Approvals

MADISON, WISCONSIN – (with excerpt from The Cap Times) – The Madison Plan Commission voted unanimously to support a proposal from nationally known student-housing developer Core Spaces to build the 465-unit student housing development near the University of Wisconsin campus. Vandewalle and Associates’ Brian Munson played a significant role in partnership with Core Spaces in getting the project through its first Plan Commission approval, from site selection and lot consolidation to refining the project’s funding structure and procedures.

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Manitowoc Moves to Acquire Catalytic Mall Redevelopment Site

MANITOWOC, WISCONSIN – (excerpt from the Herald Times Reporter): City leaders took a step towards acquiring the former Lakeshore Edgewater Plaza Mall, after recently ruling the site, which overlooks Lake Michigan, a blighted area.

The former Edgewater Plaza Mall was recognized and emphasized within the City’s recent 2023 Comprehensive Plan Update created by Vandewalle & Associates as a key catalytic development opportunity.

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V&A adds panelist to Walworth Co. Housing Summit

WALWORTH COUNTY, WI – V&A planner Sonja Kruesel was a panelist at the Walworth County Housing Summit in late September, held at the Abbey Resort. The aim of the summit was to start a county-wide discussion about challenges and potential solutions to the housing shortage. It also marked the start of a 12-month initiative led by WCEDA, and funded by Walworth County, to work with municipalities that want to facilitate housing development in their respective communities. Follow this link for more details on the summit and on the housing program.

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Cedar River Experience Economic Development

CEDAR FALLS TO WATERLOO, IOWA: Cedar Falls and Waterloo are coming together to celebrate what unites the valley geographically and economically–the Cedar River, its trail system, and its downtown public spaces.

Last year INRCOG released its proposal for the “Cedar Valley River Experience”–developed with the help of economic development and planning consultant Vandewalle & Associates.

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