NEENAH, Wis. — A record number of seniors are struggling with housing costs nationwide.

A 2022 American Community Survey showed that nearly 19% of the Wisconsin population is 65 years or older.

Some reports have shown that percentage to be even higher in the Fox Valley. That’s why a northeastern developer is stepping in to help the senior housing crisis with an innovative solution.

What You Need To Know

  • Marathon Flats includes about 60 apartments and 20 acres that was redeveloped by Park Place Holdings, which purchased part of a former Kimberly-Clark facility

  • Marathon Flats is eligible for a $1 million loan from the Vacancy-to-Vitality program and a loan of more than $400,000 from the Infrastructure Access Loan program

  • Resident Richard Finch said Marathon Flats is affordable after being priced out of independent living at other places

Marathon Flats is the Fox Valley’s newest apartment complex for people over the age of 55. The 61 new apartments for independent senior living reside in a portion of the former Kimberly-Clark office building (KC-South).

Corey Vanevehoven is the complex’s director of development. Vanevehoven said this place is a good fit for seniors navigating the housing crisis with limited budgets.

"We knew that there was a need and that seniors are struggling with inflation. So, this isn't true low-income subsidized housing, but this does meet a need for people who don't have a ton of excess revenue to spend every month," Corey Vanevenhoven said.

It’s not all leisure on this nearly 20-acre property. Vanevenhoven said there’s still some business happening.

“Here’s a consumer testing center for Kimberly-Clark Corporation. The building itself is about 150,000 square feet, so Kimberly-Clark takes up a third of the building as a tenant, and then we repurposed the remaining 100,000 square feet into apartments,” Vanevenhoven said.

“I saw this building in full operation as KC-South, and the fact that they were able to repurpose it is fantastic,” resident Richard Finch said.

Finch was born and raised in the Fox Valley. He now lives at Marathon Flats with his wife and mother.

Finch said seniors are too often overlooked in the housing crisis and now he’s happy to have a place to call home.

“The fact that they can do this and specifically target seniors is awesome, because I looked into independent living at some of the other places, and they were in the $3,000 to $4,000 a month range. This is affordable, and so we chose here and we’re not disappointed. We’re not looking back,” Finch said.

It’s not about profit for Vanevenhoven. He said he wants those enjoying retirement to have comfortable, affordable and modern accommodations.

“We want to make sure that people enjoy the place and we have a good building and a good environment,” Vanevenhoven said.

Thirty apartments are currently complete. A second phase of the project will add another 31 apartments by mid-July.

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