City Funds Would Support Iron District Housing Project

The City of Milwaukee could subsidize a portion of the Iron District development proposed for the southwest corner of Downtown. But the currently proposed subsidy is not for the soccer stadium, concert venue or hotel, at least not yet.

Up to $1.8 million, plus interest, would support Bear Development‘s construction of a 99-unit affordable apartment building near N. 10th St. and W. Michigan St.

The Department of City Development structured the tax incremental financing district as a developer-financed deal, which places the risk on the developer. The city would return any increased property tax revenue and interest from the underlying property to the developer for a set period, often no more than 20 years, or until it reaches a set amount. The structure is effectively a property tax rebate. The strategy has been used citywide to plug financing gaps in affordable housing developments.

A public notice was issued Thursday that says the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee (RACM) board will review the proposal in the coming weeks. The Common Council would also need to approve the agreement. A Department of City Development spokesperson said the project documents were not yet available.

Bear and its partners first announced the Iron District proposal two weeks ago. But the Kenosha-based developer’s apartment proposal, listed as Michigan Street Commons, was revealed in January 2021 as part of a list of developers requesting low-income housing tax credits.

In April of last year, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority granted credits for the Michigan Street Commons project to cover the cost of developing 140 units of affordable housing. Through the tax credit program, households with incomes below 80% of the area median income can rent apartments at below-market rates intended not to exceed 30% of their income. In exchange for leasing the units at below-market prices for multiple decades, WHEDA provides the tax credits. The credits are often sold to institutional investors to raise equity to build the project.

According to the notice, the apartment building is expected to cost $27.5 million to construct.

The request will go before the RACM board on June 16 during its regular meeting. The board will also review the proposed sale of the property at 4132 N. Holton St. to enable Spike Brewing to develop a new facility.

The rest of the 11-acre Iron District development site would include an 8,000-seat soccer stadium, 3,500-person concert venue and 140-room hotel, and additional land would still remain for future development. The site today is mostly vacant. Marquette University assembled the properties for an athletics center that was late built on the university’s campus in a scaled-down form.

An Urban Milwaukee column, published Wednesday, explored the almost certain need for a subsidy to develop the soccer stadium portion.

Bear previously developed the 700 Lofts affordable housing development across W. Michigan St.

Project renderings suggest Bear could develop the Michigan Street Commons building without the rest of the Iron District moving forward.

Site Photos

Iron District Renderings

UPDATE: An earlier version of this article said the review meeting would take place June 18. The meeting is Thursday, June 16.