North and central Door County are collectively hundreds of apartments short of what is needed to meet the present demand. That information can be found in the newly released Door County Housing Analysis. Last year, the Door County Economic Development Corporation, along with support from the public and private sector, hired Aecom, an engineering firm that provides design, consulting, construction and management services to study the current state of housing in Door County. The results were revealed at a news conference held at the economic development corporation’s headquarters in Sturgeon Bay Monday.
Executive Director Jim Schuessler says the analysis reveals how far behind we are to meet the present demand. For instance, Sturgeon Bay in the central sector has 164 market-rate apartments either newly completed or under construction. Impressive as that may sound, the study says the county’s central sector has less than half the apartments that are needed to catch up. To meet the current need, central Door County needs over 200 apartments. Sister Bay in the northern sector boasts 40 apartments that will be available before the end of 2019. As such, the inventory will satisfy less than a third of what is needed. In short, northern Door County needs another 165 apartments. Overall, another 376 apartments are needed to catch up to demand and to meet the near-future need. In addition, the demand for seasonal housing has grown. The current shortfall is also reflected in numbers provided by the housing analysis.
