| Beloit
Riverbend Redevelopment Plan, Beloit, Wisconsin |
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| The
nine-acre site in downtown Beloit has been the former site of the
City’s Manufactured Gas Plant and subsequently the City Wastewater
Treatment Facility, which ceased operations in 1991. While the geographical
location of the site makes it a prime spot for development, this
potential has been hindered by environmental concerns. Site remediation
efforts have been completed and the City of Beloit engaged DLK to
investigate a variety of design frameworks for the parcel. Public
workshops and dialog sessions with stakeholders were held to determine
land use issues and a series of concepts were presented for review.
Ultimately, the historic development patterns of the adjacent downtown
residential neighborhoods informed the proposed framework plan,
as the City and the stakeholders believed that a more dense development
pattern would allow for a greater number of units with more residents
able to avail themselves of the opportunities available in the greater
downtown area. DLK stressed throughout the process that the plan
needed to be flexible to allow development to respond to present
market forces. The pattern, housing type and lot sizes were a distinct
departure from the typical development patterns of the area’s post-war
era, however stakeholders realized that diversity and choice were
limited in housing opportunities and embraced the proposed framework
plan. The City of Beloit
also engaged DLK to participate in preparing the RFP documents for
developers.
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