A certified survey map for the former Lincoln School property approved by the Shawano Plan Commission on Wednesday carves out a portion of the property adjacent to Main Street that would be acquired by the city.
Commonwealth Development Corp., of Fond du Lac, plans to construct 16 apartments in the former school building, plus an additional eight cottage units on the north side of the property. They would be two- to three-bedroom, low-income homes.
The exterior of Lincoln School will remain the same after the conversion. Remodeling work on the building interior is still on track to begin before the the year’s out.
A 9,251 square foot lot, currently fronted on Main Street by a fenced-in playground area, would be transferred to the city. In exchange, the city would do some curb cutting, sidewalk replacement and other right-of-way work on the property.
City Administrator Brian Knapp said Commonwealth is currently drafting the transfer agreement for Plan Commission review.
“Our intent is to make it available for development,” Knapp said.
Commonwealth plans to construct the cottages in the spring of next year, after the interior remodeling of the school has been completed. The project is expected to cost about $4 million.
The project was awarded $2.86 million over the next 10 years through a Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) program designed to increase affordable housing statewide.
Commonwealth Development will retain the property in its portfolio and provide on-site management. The property would also be inspected once a week by one of the company’s regional managers to ensure it is being kept up.
The company, which specializes in housing projects, has done similar renovation projects — including an elementary school in Rhinelander now called the Historic West Elementary Apartments and a maternity ward in Milwaukee that was turned into a 51-unit apartment complex last year.
The 31,826-square-foot Lincoln School was built in 1924. It was retired in 2010 after Hillcrest Primary School was completed and students were moved there and to the remodeled Olga Brener Intermediate School.
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