A single two-family home has stood for 15 years surrounded by empty fields in the middle of an unfinished, 6.2-acre subdivision northwest of Bell School and Mill roads.

After the streets were built, fire hydrants installed, the first two-family home built and the foundations for two other duplexes poured in 2009, progress on the subdivision stopped amid the housing crash. No more duplexes were built and the fields were allowed to grow.

Now spurred by incentives being offered by Rockford meant to encourage new construction, First Midwest Group has submitted plans to revive the stalled project in the White Swan Subdivision.

“That’s residential that sat dormant for years,” City Administrator Todd Cagnoni said. “Obviously we’ve put forward the property tax rebate and the no building permit fees to try to encourage some new residential construction and, we have a developer that’s taking us up on it.”

Rockford partnered with Rockford Public Schools, the Rockford Public Library and Rockford Township to offer a three-year property tax rebate in exchange constructing new single-family homes, duplexes and multifamily buildings occupied before Dec. 31, 2025.

If construction of the duplexes begins this year, the city will also waive building permit and water connection fees in another effort to create more housing options.

First Midwest Group representatives did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.

Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at  (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Stalled Rockford housing project could restart with incentives