Things are happening in Wausau. Over the past several months, after the landscape shed the snow, changes, improvements and updates started becoming more and more visible throughout the city.
It’s now to a point where Wausau residents can hardly travel five blocks without asking, “What’s going on over there?” So City Pages got in touch with Wausau economic development director Randy Fifrick to get the lowdown on a number of the most visible changes, and ongoing needs, within the city.
Overall, expanding affordable housing remains a top priority for the city. The housing dilemma is largely driven by workforce concerns. Since the COVID pandemic, Fifrick said, Wausau has struggled to rebuild a full-time workforce for area businesses.
“It’s one of the biggest things that we heard when companies were trying to bring in employees, that they couldn’t find places to live,” he said.
In 2021, North Central Regional Planning developed a housing study that determined Wausau needed 525 new housing units by 2025 to meet the needs of the population. Fifrick said that the city is expected to exceed that number by the end of 2026, with a couple big developments reaching completion later this year.
“Our focus over the last 5 or 6 years has been in looking at and trying to add to our housing supply,” Fifrick said.
With the closure of the Wausau Center mall around that same time, the city focused on revitalizing the downtown business base by establishing nearby housing to bolster commerce and make downtown jobs more attractive. The big bet is that nearby housing will make downtown not just a destination, but a thriving location that a sector of the population calls “home.”
“Having more people living [downtown], they’re going to be able to support those businesses, whether it’s grocery, clothing, or whatever they need,” Fifrick said. “If it’s a block or two walk, it’s a lot simpler than getting in your vehicle and driving somewhere. Walkability is important. We’ve got great recreation in our area and trying to always improve the trail system that we have. Not every town has a river, and we’re trying to take advantage of that asset whenever we can.”
Sometimes it’s not about what you see being built up, it’s about what’s coming down and making space for something new. This summer there have been several high-profile demolition sites in Wausau, with more expected in the coming months.
One of the most visible sites is the former Prange’s building at 407 Grant Street, which is reduced to rubble and should be cleared out in the coming weeks to make way as the Grant Place redevelopment project continues to move forward. PGA Inc. has been working on demolition and Ghidorzi Construction is serving as the general contractor for two planned buildings on the site: a 70-unit senior living apartment building and a 24-unit assisted living apartment building.
State plan review applications have been submitted for both the apartment and assisted living components of the project. The assisted living portion is currently scheduled for plan commission review and hearing as part of the conditional use permit application.
“I know from talking with the project developers that they’ve had verbal reservations on over half of the 70 units, so it seems like it’s something that there’s a lot of need for,” Fifrick said.
Further up the river, MRD Group is completing demolition of the former water treatment plant at 1801 N. River Drive. Site demolition and restoration activities are underway with a contracted completion date of Sept. 1.
The city does not have specific plans yet for the former water treatment plant parcel, but the long-term plan is to develop the riverfront, from that point up to East Wausau Avenue, for commercial and residential purposes. The majority of that land is already owned by the city.
“That’s kind of one of those situations where we’ve got some environmental cleanup that we need to do along that stretch, and that’s kind of the first step in that process,” Fifrick said. “The plan is to expand everywhere north to East Wausau Avenue and just continue that. I think what we’ll see along there is reduction in density, though, where instead of the four- or five-story apartment projects, you’ll see some lower density, smaller scale development. I’m hoping that there’s a combination of both commercial and residential in that stretch.”
A critical first step in that plan is extending the River Edge Walkway up to Gilbert Park, possibly as early as 2027.
Further south along the riverfront, higher-density housing is already in the works. Wangard Partners, a Milwaukee-based real estate firm, is planning on developing two four-story apartment buildings, housing a total of 143 units, in the vacant lot just south of Riverlife Apartments.
“We’re still working out with development negotiations on that. They should break ground next spring,” Fifrick said.
Continuing south, the three-story Waterside Place building located on the corner of First and Scott streets (between Dudley Tower and the library), is being renovated into a mixed-use structure. The building, which formerly housed Wipfli, will see the top two stories converted to residential units while the first story remains office space.
“They’ve already started some demo work and small things on that, but major work should start this fall for their construction, and they should have those units online sometime in 2027, I would imagine,” Fifrick said.
The commercial component of Waterside Place has also seen significant progress, with State of Wisconsin agencies, including the Department of Workforce Development, occupying a substantial portion of the lower-floor office space.
While the west side of the river remains much more industrialized, the city is making progress there, too. Last year the city purchased a 5.9-acre parcel that formerly housed MBX Packaging Specialists at 201 N. First Ave. for $900,000, with a $250,000 contribution from the Judd S. Alexander Foundation. Demolition is expected to start in the fall or winter, followed by soil remediation and environmental restoration.
“Part of that was for extension of the Riverlife Trail through there,” Fifrick said. “Right now that’s one of the existing gaps in that trail, so that’ll allow us to construct that trail, as well as redevelop that property.”
Down by the Thomas Street bridge, the highly visible 700 Grand apartment building is entering its final stretch of construction. The 50-unit income-qualified apartment development is in the final stages of construction, including interior finishes, site landscaping and completion of retaining wall improvements along Grand Avenue. The project remains on schedule for fall 2026 completion.
Additionally, on Wausau’s far west side, additional single-family subdivisions are in development between South 72nd Avenue and South 68th Avenue.
“It’s good to see that because, in my opinion, single-family home ownership is one of the most important ways that people can build wealth within themselves,” Fifrick said. “And when you own a home, it’s a lot stickier to the community where — it’s a whole lot more difficult to sell a house and move on than is if you’re just renting an apartment.”
Anyone who drove a block or two down Grand Avenue this winter might’ve felt the need to take their car into the mechanic and get the suspension checked out. Potholes and general distress have taken their toll on the state-maintained roadway (it’s technically designated as Business Highway 51 and thus the state’s responsibility), which is a vital corridor between Wausau and the Schofield, Rothschild and Weston communities.
While the city is not responsible for Grand Avenue, Fifrick said the state is looking at reconstructing Grand Avenue between East Kent Street and Lake View Drive in a few years’ time.
“That’s longer term, like 2029, 2030,” he said. “On 700 Grand we reserved some additional right-of-way along Grand Avenue, so if there are additional improvements that are made along there, it’s not going to affect the new development.”
Fifrick reiterated that the city’s current priority is on the downtown and riverfront areas, but in the future, Grand Avenue could see greater economic growth — especially with an improved roadway.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunities along Grand in the future to really bring some good life into that stretch,” he said.
With UW-Stevens Point at Wausau offerings moving to the Northcentral Technical College campus this month, the 10.5-acre campus — located almost at the dead-center of Wausau — now sits vacant. The property is owned by Marathon County, and the county board is looking to work with the city on redevelopment of the site.
The Marathon County Board issued the Wausau Common Council a request for proposals for the property, which was discussed at a July 13 common council meeting. Notably, the RFP does not include the Center for Civic Engagement property, as the county is exploring an agreement with a newly formed nonprofit organization to manage the building as a performing arts venue.
On July 13, the council voted 9-1 to move forward with a proposal to pursue part of the property as the new headquarters for the Wausau Police Department. While the current headquarters suits the department’s needs, the move could save the city from spending an estimated $28 million on constructing a new fire department building. Moving the police department to the former campus location would allow the fire department to expand into the old police station.
The deadline for the city’s proposal is Aug. 24.
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