Editor’s note: On Nov. 24, the Howard Village Board approved Rennes Group’s development plan with a 8-1 vote. Village Board member Craig McAllister voted against it.
The Rennes Group could provide an assisted living facility in Howard by 2027.
On Nov. 17, Howard’s Plan Commission unanimously approved a proposal from the Rennes Group to open a new campus in Howard on Lineville Road and Red Oak Street. The land is owned by the village of Howard. In August, the village approved to sell the land to the Rennes Group.
“This absolutely opens up an opportunity for Howard, for Pittsfield, and Pulaski,” said Burt McIntyre, Village Board Chair. “It becomes a central focus areas for services.”
The plan will go to the Village Board Nov. 24 for approval. Once the design for the senior living campus is finalized, the project would come back to the Plan Commission and Village Board for one last approval.
Campus will have mix of living apartments and memory care
Under the plan, the 11-acre Howard campus would have 80 apartment-style residential units for independent living, 24 beds in the assisted living facility, and specialized memory care services. A “town square” will include a dining and activity areas.
“We want (the town square) to really be integrated within the community,” said Nikki Schingick, the president of the Rennes Group.
Schingick said the proximity to businesses and Bay Port High School on Lineville Road was intentional to boost access for families and residents.
“That was part of our site selection, if you look at everything down on Lineville,” she said.
The Rennes Group wants to hire 70 staff members for the residential apartments and 20 employees to provide memory care services.
A larger community in the future
Construction is expected to start in fall 2026, and the Rennes Group wants to open the campus in 2027.
The Rennes Group owns 13 facilities in northeastern Wisconsin. In Brown County, it runs a campus, 250 S. Ninth St. in De Pere, with a skilled nursing center, assisted living facility and residential apartments.
Eventually, the Rennes Group wants to expand Howard’s living community with more independent apartments, assisted living rooms, a play area, day care building, and skilled nursing facility. Schingick wants residents to be able to “age in place” as they get older and need more levels of care.
“This is hopefully what we would have as phase one of what could be a potential buildout in areas to be able to add to expand out the continuum of care,” Schingick said.
McIntyre noted that the project would take away 11 acres of Sunny Hill Farm’s strawberry fields that “was absolutely adding to the economy of the area” but said the senior living community would add care services to the region.
“People are always fearful that they’re losing the rural atmosphere that we’ve had and enjoyed for so many years,” McIntyre said.
Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Rennes Group assisted living campus to offer apartment living, memory care in Howard
Reporting by Benita Mathew, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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