Developer Josh Jeffers says his partnership with
Milwaukee Area Technical College was vital in making his Journal Square redevelopment project a reality, and addresses an unmet need for affordable student housing downtown.
Jeffers, president and chief executive of Milwaukee-based
J. Jeffers & Co., joined MATC president Vicki Martin and other project partners Tuesday morning to cut the ribbon on the first phase of Journal Square.
The multi-phase redevelopment is transforming the former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel offices southeast of West State Street and North Vel R. Phillips Avenue. The first component to finish is Westown Green, which will house 195 students in the "1962 Building" on the northeast corner of the city block.
Westown Green is a "first of its kind" project in Milwaukee, and aims to combat housing insecurity for students, according to the project team.
"Housing insecurity is a real problem for two-year college students across the country," Martin said, adding that surveys have found more than half of such students lacked consistent housing. For its part, MATC found 65% of students experienced housing insecurity in the past year.
"An unexpected increase in rent … can force a student to choose between paying that rent and paying the next tuition or book bill," she said. "We want our students to be able to choose both secure, stable, safe housing and an opportunity to continue their education."
Jeffers
formally announced its partnership with MATC and others in July 2020 to advance the student-housing project. But the ties between those two groups reach back to before Jeffers' firm
bought the office complex the previous year, he said.
"(The partnership) factored into our decision to move ahead with the purchase of the properties," Jeffers said in an interview. "We started talking with MATC about two years ago, summer of 2019, and we closed on the acquisition in October of '19."
Early on in the process, Jeffers & Co. was going through its normal analysis of a property to determine its best use. The building proved challenging due to its large floorplates and a multi-level printing press room.
Things started clicking once Jeffers was introduced to Martin and others at MATC. He got a "crash course" of MATC and the needs of its students. The student body, for instance, has a significant number of non-traditional students, such as parents of young children, who had limited housing options.
"To be totally honest, I did not appreciate the extent to which there is a big housing need, a big imbalance, specifically for MATC students and for community colleges across the country," he said. "It's a pretty big national trend where the housing component has become a very key part of the overall collegiate experience."
Westown Green will have a mix of studio, two-bedroom and four-bedroom units. Of the 83 total units, 27 will be set aside for those making 60% of Milwaukee County's median income, 12 will be for those making 80% of median area income and 44 will be market-rate, said May yer Thao, assistant deputy director of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.
Jeffers said the two-bedroom units will target non-traditional students. The four-bedroom units will be more dormitory style, in which students rent individual rooms.
Financing for the $29.1 million Westown Green project comes from state and federal historic tax credits, U.S. Bank as a tax credit investor, a $17.8 million senior mortgage from WHEDA, a bridge loan for the tax credits from Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust and $1 million in city financing.
The WHEDA loan comes through its Flex Financing program, Jeffers said, which requires at minimum that 20% of all units be set aside for residents who make 80% of less of county median income.
The city contribution comes in the form of tax increment financing, and required some negotiating with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks agreed to forgo $1 million from an existing TIF district so the city could redirect that money to Westown Green.
MATC also contributed by purchasing furniture, fixtures and equipment and providing credit enhancements, Jeffers said. Westown Green is leasing directly to MATC students, but the school stands behind the leases.
Other Journal Square project components include
141 units of market-rate housing in the "1924 Building" at the northwest corner of the block, and a
new Tenor High School location to the south of that. Milwaukee charter school systemÂ
Seeds of Health Inc., which operates Tenor High School and other schools, is leading the development on that third component.
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