GM/JATCO Redevelopment Advisory Board Meeting Summary - June 1, 2026
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GM/JATCO Redevelopment Advisory Board Meeting Summary
The GM/JATCO Redevelopment Advisory Board held a meeting on June 1, 2026 (based on official record date) to discuss project updates, including brand selection, existing conditions analysis, market insights, and planning for a community visioning workshop. The board approved prior meeting minutes and reviewed presentations from Stantec consultants.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from the April 8, 2026 meeting. Motion by Lindsay, seconded by Jim C. All in favor, motion carried.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were recorded.
Discussion Items
- Brand Selection: Amy from Stantec reported that Concept 3.3 received 60% of first-choice votes and 80% as a second choice. The branding, including colors and fonts, will be used moving forward, with potential additions like logos as the project develops.
- Existing Conditions: Amy presented maps covering regional context, land use, zoning, environmental/open space, and mobility. Environmental assessment identified soil impacts on the north (GM) side and documented issues on the south (JATCO) side. The blue area (former rail spur) requires further assessment, while vehicle storage areas pose lower risk. Areas unlikely suitable for single-family residential were identified due to high remediation costs and market feasibility.
- Market Analysis: Jay from Stantec shared initial findings:
- Population growth in Janesville has been slower than household growth, with an aging population and declining household size (average persons per household dropped from 2.5 to 2.3).
- Median age rose from ~36 to 41, closing the gap with Rock County and Wisconsin.
- Married-with-children households declined from 22% to 14%, while living alone increased nearly 6%.
- Income growth has been uneven; lower-income households are concentrated near the site.
- Blue-collar jobs dominate employment growth, with the sector having both the highest percentage increase and largest absolute job gains (2013–2023).
- Housing construction has shifted toward multifamily units. Home values increased 20–30% faster than incomes in Janesville and Rock County compared to Wisconsin state.
- Multifamily vacancy rates rose slightly in 2025 due to recent construction, but remain healthy.
- Visioning Workshop: Amy outlined plans for a workshop in June (date not specified) from 5–7 PM, likely at the County Resource Center or Fire Station Conference Room. The workshop will use an open-house format with boards, maps, and virtual surveys to gather community priorities on land uses. Stantec will facilitate; city staff and advisory board members may help. A follow-up “what we heard” memo will inform concept designs, with a second workshop anticipated in September.
- Stakeholder List: Board member Aaron Clipstein suggested adding representatives from Jackson, Lincoln, and Wilson elementary schools, Fourth Ward Neighborhood Action Team, Rock County Public Health, the adjacent manufactured home community, and the Rock County Regional Airport (due to FAA height restrictions). Amy confirmed the list is expandable and these suggestions will be considered. Board member James Everstein offered additional data resources.
Key Outcomes
- Meeting adjourned by motion. Lindsay moved, seconded by Jeff. All in favor, motion carried.
- The board directed staff to incorporate suggested stakeholder additions and finalize the list.
- The visioning workshop will be advertised and held in June, with Stantec preparing materials and city staff facilitating.
Meeting Transcript
Well, it's it's five o'clock. Uh so let's go ahead and get started. I'll call the May 27th meeting of the GM Jack review building board to order uh form to present. So are we government backboard? I believe so. Okay, six, right. So okay, so make sure. So uh roll call, um Matt Gilbert's and chair present. Lindsay Bipdorf here. Anthony Burkhard present. Steve Dean. He's excused absence. Uh Kristen DeVorick Stone present, Craig DeGarmel here. Heidi Dettinger, I don't believe we were expecting her. She excused herself. Okay. Aaron Clipstein was going to try to join virtually, so hopefully she'll still be able to make it. Jimpsy Coolborn here. James Everstein here. And Jeff Winschel here. Okay, thank you. Uh second item on the agenda approval of meeting minutes from April 8th, 2026. It should have been in your faculty and the opportunity to reviews those I'd entertain a motion to approve. Uh by Lindsay, is there a second? Second. By Jim C. Any further discussion? Directions. Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Proposed. During non-motion carries. Old business, I believe we have none. Okay. New business. We will turn it over to Amy and Jay from Stanic presentation of initial key insights. Thank you. Hope everyone's doing well tonight. Okay. I'm gonna go ahead and share my screen and we're gonna run through the presentation. If I can get it to switch slides. Okay. So is the first slide. We also have Evan Hartsfield who just joined. He is a landscape architect for us, and he's leading to leading design of the project. Okay, so the agenda for today is we're gonna go over the updates that we have so far on the project. We're going to brief you on the existing condition status of the project and discuss the visioning workshop, which is planned for next month, and then go over next steps for the project. Okay, updates. Thank you for everyone for voting. The selected brand was concept 3.3, which you will see this presentation is branded to that format. So these are the color schemes and fonts that will be used moving forward.
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