New Condo Project Ramps Up Town of Beloit Building

The Town of Beloit has seen a bit of a building boom, but this would be the biggest development by far in terms of units.

Since 2020, builders have taken out permits to build 111 new single-family homes in the township as well as 24 duplexes. This year already has been the busiest this decade. Through August, builders have taken out permits on 29 new single-family homes and eight duplexes.

Brian Looker, owner of LookAbel, said the goal is to build housing for younger families.

“It’s going to be close to Turner and we think we can get a younger demographic, younger professionals,” Looker said. “We’ll have a condo association to make sure the properties are maintained.”

LookAbel is a familiar name in the Town of Beloit. The company has built 19 single-family homes in the town since the beginning of 2020 and 18 duplexes, which are owner-occupied condo units as well. The vast majority of its work has been done in the Blackhawk Run subdivision and Looker said he’s down to his final lots.

“We’ve been working on this for about a year,” he said. “We have a really good team of Realtors that work with us. We’re hopeful these will go quickly.”

The Beloit area, like many sections of the United States, has a shortage of housing, which is contributing to rapidly rising prices and rent. The median sale price of a home in Rock County has jumped from $185,000 at the end of 2020 to $265,000 at the midway point of 2024.

Tim Kienbaum, Town of Beloit community development director, said the rapidly rising costs actually is increasing demand for new units.

“The sharp increases in construction cost and interest rates in the last couple of years have led a number of people that would have otherwise moved to stay in their existing homes, decreasing the number of available units and increasing the demand for new construction,” he said in an email.

According to a City of Beloit affordable housing report, the region needs to add about 1,200 new housing units by 2030 to keep up with demand.

Since 2020, builders in the city of Beloit have taken out permits on 142 new single-family homes and six condominium units. There also has been three large new apartment complexes built — the two Wright & Wagner buildings and the Lofts of Hawks Ridge — adding 215 units to the region.

Looker said he has to reach final purchase and developer’s agreements with the town, but he hopes to begin construction in October or November.

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