Developer Seeks Extension To Develop City Place Apartments

The developers of a four-story, 38-unit apartment building are seeking more time to complete their financing package and close on the purchase of city-owned land.

“The timeline we had before has been pushed and shoved around,” said developer Kalan Haywood to members of the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee on Tuesday. It’s a common refrain from developers in the past year as construction costs have spiked.

The Haywood Group and Thirty Six Blocks are seeking to develop City Place Two on the northwest corner of the block bounded by W. Vine St., W. Walnut St., N. 5th St. and N. 6th St. a few blocks north of Fiserv Forum. Its the second phase of a 2018 project, City Place Apartments, that included 51 apartments on the southeast corner of the block.

Thirty-two of the new apartments, all two-bedroom layouts, would be set aside at below-market rates for households making less than 60% of the area’s median income. Six three-bedroom townhomes would be leased at market rates. Engberg Anderson Architects is leading the building’s design.

The partners secured low-income housing tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) in spring 2020 to serve as the cornerstone of the building’s financing package. “WHEDA has given us an extension on the project as well,” said Haywood.

The city’s revised agreement, proposed by the Department of City Development, would give the partners until June 30 to purchase the site. Construction would need to be completed by May 31, 2023. The site, for which the development team would pay $10,000, is currently owned by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee. It is currently addressed as 1728 N. 6th St. and has been vacant since the early 1990s after a failed urban renewal effort.

The development team previously had until June 2021 to close on the purchase.

Area Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs is backing the extension. She said she would like Haywood to meet with a newly formed 6th Street stakeholders group.

In July, then-mayor Tom Barrett proposed to allocate American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to close a financing gap in the project, but the council didn’t adopt Barrett’s broader ARPA summer plan. But in October, the council passed its own ARPA plan, which included $10 million for the Housing Trust Fund. The fund is used to close financing gaps in affordable housing projects, but normally has only $1 million in funding.

A third phase of the development would be located on the northeast corner of the block. Haywood intended the second and third phases to be market-rate buildings when they were approved in 2017, but the market reportedly does not currently support that. The sequencing of the later phases was also reversed.

The committee unanimously endorsed the extension. The full council will consider the proposal on April 19.