Three proposed Milwaukee affordable housing projects received funding boosts from two new state programs.
Two projects, both on King Drive on the city’s near north side, received Vacancy-to-Vitality loans, which supplement tax credits already awarded earlier in 2024 by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).
The 75-unit Union at Rose Park development, 3030 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., secured a $1 million loan, WHEDA announced Wednesday. It also is to receive a $125,375 Infrastructure Access program loan from WHEDA, which is a program intended to support developers in repairing or replacing public infrastructure associated with the development.
The $24 million project is being proposed by Indianapolis-based development firm The Annex Group, which is eyeing a summer construction start.
One block north, the 67-unit Compass Lofts, 3116 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., is receiving a $1 million loan from the Vacancy-to-Vitality program. That project, a venture between four local emerging developers, could include a grocery store and other retail on its first floor.
A third, smaller development called Suites on Villard, is to receive a $40,000 loan from the state’s new Restore Main Street program. The program is intended to support the rehabilitation of housing on the second or third floors of existing buildings.
A $525 million package, created as part of the 2023-2025 state budget, created the three loan programs.
“Since creating these products, we are contributing to the creation of 967 units in rural and urban areas for workers, their children, and our aging population who need a safe, stable place to live and thrive,” said WHEDA CEO and executive director Elmer Moore Jr.
Additional projects in Madison, Plymouth, Hayward and Door County also received loans in this round of funding awards.
“Affordable housing is one of the issues I hear most about nearly everywhere I go, and it’s an issue that connects dots between some of the most pressing issues facing our state, from success in the classroom to folks joining and staying in our workforce to overcoming mental and behavioral health issues and substance misuse. Our efforts to secure one of the largest state investments in workforce housing in state history is a critical part of our work to expand access to affordable housing across our state,” said Gov. Tony Evers.
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