The Landing apartments revitalizing Appleton riverfront

APPLETON - It's the new face of the Appleton riverfront. The Landing is a 54-unit income restricted apartment complex situated on the Fox River on the site of the former Riverside Paper Mill.

"This is actually a great site for us, this is a great site for in-fill housing, this is workforce and young professional housing," said project developer John Thode of Horizon Development Group.

Twenty-three-year-old Jim Meulendyke agrees.

"Being the first person to live in here, kind of a new community being opened here is what I was excited for as far as what they were trying to do around here, bringing in a whole new contingent of people," he said.

It's that kind of excitement the city of Appleton is hoping for with a project that's aiming to revitalize a large swath of land along the river downtown.

"We're thrilled, it's very exciting. This is an eight acre property that has been in industrial use for over 100 years and for the first time they are making it available for the public to enjoy," said Appleton Community Development deputy director Monica Klaeser.

The apartments are also close to downtown and the Fox River Trail. A $16 million grant from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority helped with demolition of the former mill. The money also helped develop the Landing and Riverwalk Place, a senior living complex next door.

In addition to the waterfront views, one of the things that make these apartments so unique is that they are some of the most energy efficient in the state. With radiant floor heating, solar powered water heaters, energy start appliances and lighting, this is only the third apartment building of its size in the state to qualify for energy star certification.

It all adds up to a pretty cool place to live for someone like West Ferguson and his fiancée, getting their first apartment together.

"We got a two bedroom, two bath and its $602 a month which is right in our price range for what we want in the area we wanted, so we're in love with it," Ferguson said.

Meaning these apartments fill a need for affordable housing and fit the bill for sprucing up the namesake of the Fox Valley.