Whitefish Bay Affordable Housing Development Approved on Appeal

Rendering of 17-unit affordable housing development at 4800-4818 N. Santa Monica Blvd. Rendering by Zimmerman Architectural Studio.

A Milwaukee County-backed affordable housing project in Whitefish Bay is back on track after it was blocked by a village commission in January. On Tuesday, the Village’s Board of Appeals overturned an architectural review board decision.

Spoerl Development LLC is planning to build a three-story, 17-unit affordable apartment building, called The Hampton, at 4800-4818 N. Santa Monica Blvd. The site is located at the intersection of N. Santa Monica Boulevard and E. Hampton Road, near the border of Whitefish Bay and Shorewood. The intersection is considered one of the gateways to the village.

The project was designed to be in compliance with village zoning, and only needed approval for permitting. It went before the village Architectural Review Commission (ARC) twice, and during the second meeting, in December, the project was denied.

The denial proved controversial, as the Milwaukee County Housing Division had just awarded the project $3.2 million, with authorization from the county Board of Supervisors, to support the creation of affordable housing. “It just so happens that the same day this project went to the ARC that the county announced their grant for us, for an affordable housing development,” the developer Brian Spoerl, told Urban Milwaukee in January.

Expanding affordable housing, with a special attention to housing options in the suburbs, has been a policy priority of the county’s Housing Division under County Executive David Crowley.

According to a “Finding of Facts” produced by the commission, the project was rejected based upon a handful of considerations including concerns about local property values, parking; a subjective notion that one of the walls was “cold” and “not residential feeling”; and that it “still doesn’t feel like Whitefish Bay.”

Spoerl appealed the ARC decision to the village’s Board of Appeals. The proposal was modified again to incorporate some of the ARC’s notes from December and changed the color of some of the exterior materials to match projects recently approved by the village. During a packed public meeting, the board overruled the denial.

“In the end, the process and the community produced a great looking building that we’re very proud of,” Spoerl told Urban Milwaukee.

Milwaukee County’s Housing Division has now funded affordable housing projects in five different municipalities, including Whitefish Bay. “The county has been a terrific partner throughout the entire process and have been very supportive all along,” said the developer.

Crowley, in a statement, said that “expanding access to safe, quality, and affordable housing in every corner of our community” is part of the county’s strategic plan to achieve racial equity.

“I’m pleased this important project is now moving forward so more Milwaukee County residents and families have access to the affordable housing options they need,” said the county executive. “Our vision for achieving racial equity in Milwaukee County includes expanding access to safe, quality, and affordable housing in every corner of our community. That’s why my administration is providing funding for three suburban affordable housing developments across the county, including in the Village of Whitefish Bay. I’m pleased this important project is now moving forward so more Milwaukee County residents and families have access to the affordable housing options they need.”

Suburban communities have historically been resistant to affordable housing projects. And while the project was never explicitly condemned on the grounds that it was an affordable housing project, the village’s history of racially restrictive covenants appeared, to many observers, to echo in the ARC’s decision.

In a series of social media posts made in recent months, Village President Kevin Buckley said concerns about the project’s design and parking were raised before the project included an affordability subsidy and that the proposal includes razing two buildings that include five units of affordable housing. In the lead up to Tuesday’s vote, he said he favored finding a solution to the design issues.

Directly west of the project site, across N. Santa Monica Boulevard, is a CVS pharmacy with a large surface parking lot. Across E. Hampton Road is a gas station. Kitty-corner to the development site is a commercial building, also with a large surface parking lot. The corner Spoerl plans to redevelop has sat vacant for years, with a building he called “dilapidated,” saying it “cannot possibly be consistent with enhanced property values.”

A 4-1 vote approved the project, with only alternate member Kimberly Finnigan voting in opposition.

Black and Hispanic residents in the county have disproportionately higher rates of poverty than white residents. And the defining feature of the suburban housing policy is the effort to give low-income families more options for where to live and access to neighborhoods and communities with more jobs and better-performing schools.

In Whitefish Bay, where the village’s own planning documents reference a lack of affordability, the median home value is $365,000.

Following the approval, Housing Administrator James Mathy told Urban Milwaukee, “It’s a good day for affordable housing.”