Milwaukee-based Mandel Group Inc. is receiving $24.1 million in low-interest financing through the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) for the second phase of its North End project in downtown Milwaukee. The bonds will be issued by WHEDA and sold to individual investors.
The $38 million North End project will consist of two, five-story buildings with a total of 155 apartment units and 2,300 square feet of retail space. The buildings will be constructed along the Milwaukee River at Water and Pleasant streets in the Park East corridor.
Mandel is also still in negotiations with the city of Milwaukee for a loan for the project, said senior vice president Richard Lincoln, who declined to disclose any details of those negotiations. If the financing package comes together, Mandel Group hopes to break ground on the project in March, he said.
The financing through WHEDA for the North End will be WHEDA’s first use of funds under the Midwest Disaster Area Bond program, which is issued through the Heartland Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2008 to aid in recovery of severe storms and flooding.
That program requires the North End buildings that it is financing to have 20 percent of the units (31 units) set aside for households at or below 60 percent of Milwaukee County’s median income.
“This is great news for our company, but more importantly for the city of Milwaukee, the ongoing redevelopment of the Park East corridor and the workers who will fill the vitally needed construction jobs,” said Barry Mandel, president of Mandel Group.
The first phase of the North End was an 83-unit apartment building with 12,000 square feet of retail space. The apartments in that building were fully leased shortly after the building was completed in 2009.
