Honoring the land builds desirable communities
Growing up, Jim, John and Karen Siepmann watched their father Ron, carefully plan out developments with layers of onion-skin paper. “He would call himself the ‘great lot loser’,” John chuckled, recalling the memory. “He believed more lots did not equal more value. A development should contribute to the social fabric of the community.” The elder Siepmann learned from his father and uncle to honor the land whether developing it for commercial or residential use. For Jim, John and Karen, it’s their legacy that continues to be honored with every project Siepmann Realty Corporation undertakes. Currently, Siepmann Realty is developing a 100-acre parcel of land in the Village of Hartland. John Siepmann took time to reflect on his time in the industry and talk about Windrush, his latest developing project.
How did you get started in the industry?
Siepmann Realty has been around since 1943. Our grandfather, Paul, started the business when he developed an 80-acre parcel of land in Brookfield and sold the lots to returning World War II veterans. Next, our dad came into the business. We started in the business literally from the ground up; we pulled weeds, planted gardens and picked up trash. During college, I got my real estate license. Today, Jim, Karen and I own and run the business.
What do you enjoy about developing land?
This is a challenging business. Every community has different development restrictions, ordinances and codes; even within communities, it can change with every election. The tailwinds and headwinds are always game-changers, but we enjoy working with all walks of people: adults just out of college, young families or empty-nesters, who choose to live in the communities we develop.
How do you differentiate your business from others?
We take a good hard look at the lay of the land. We ask ourselves, ‘how will it work for those living here?’ There is beauty in conservation development. Our dad was right; more lots don’t equal more value. We change our plans if what we are doing doesn’t make sense for the goals we are trying to achieve.
What are you working on now?
Windrush in the Village of Hartland is a 100-acre parcel of land with 57 half-acre home sites. This will be unique. We will preserve 56 acres of open space. There will be a private recreation center with a swimming pool, a court for basketball, volleyball and pickleball, a cabana with a changing area and an area for grilling and a play area. There will be trails both paved and unpaved, quiet outdoor spaces and stands of oak and hickory trees. The original farmhouse will remain to honor what came before. It’s in the Arrowhead School District, making it very desirable for families. Windrush is tucked away, yet minutes from the freeway and retail sites. We have 26 lots under contract. It has been very well received.
How has being a member of the MBA helped your business?
We have been an MBA member for a very long time. My brother and I are past-presidents. It offers us so many valuable resources when it comes to legislation, the politics of building or developing in various communities. It helped us survive the recent downturn. It gives us an opportunity to network with contractors, builders and suppliers. The MBA is very good at sharing information about community ordinances and utility tariffs.
What is your proudest professional achievement?
We are very proud of each of our neighborhoods as well as our commercial buildings in downtown Pewaukee. We love Lake Country. Twenty years ago, downtown Pewaukee was very quiet. Now, it’s a great focal point for Pewaukee Lake. It’s really part of the community. It’s a fun place to be. We are very proud to have been an integral part of that transformation.
What is one of your greatest business challenges?
Ideally, we like to build near four lane highways and no further than a 30 or 40-minute drive from the major downtown area or airport. That criterion for prime, buildable land is getting scarce. We are now in what we call ‘tertiary land.’ It is more costly to develop because of sewer, water and utility issues. It’s more time consuming to negotiate with communities. We are always trying to make land affordable for our customers, but developing land in areas with these concerns makes it difficult.
What inspires you?
The land inspires us. Preservation of meaningful open spaces is a great inspiration. We look at the land and the green space to see how it can be preserved in a meaningful way before we add homesites. We work with the Waukesha County Land Conservancy which maintains and manages conservancy spaces in many of our developments, which really benefits the community.
Who is your personal hero?
For us, it’s our dad, Ron Siepmann. He was a special man. He was so creative. He thought outside the lot. I know it’s counterintuitive, but for him, less was more in the grand plan of laying out lots on a parcel of land. We continue that philosophy today with all of our developments.