New Vliet Street Homes Near Completion

2007 W. Vliet St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

There was plenty to celebrate in 2023 when a former school, described as “almost the quintessential definition of blight” by the area alderman, was redeveloped into affordable housing for military families.

But now, there will be four new, owner-occupied homes built atop the school’s former parking lot.

Gorman & Company, which also redeveloped the school, is working to complete the two-story homes on the 2000 block of W. Vliet Street.

“The special part about this, other than just saving a historic building that is an icon in this neighborhood, is the homes in front. Those homes in front represent something,” said Gorman Wisconsin Market President Ted Matkom during a tour of the McKinley School Lofts Tuesday with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “A neighborhood is great when you provide affordable homes in an apartment setting. It’s fantastic. The real stability and renaissance of the neighborhood is home ownership, having those stakeholders. And those homes out front are trying to create that balance.”

The houses are listed online for sale for between $359,900 and $369,900. “We have a list already of about 15 people that want to buy them,” said Matkom. “There is no less demand than we thought.” Work is expected to wrap up next month.

Two different layouts were used: a four-bedroom, two-bathroom layout with 1,531 square feet and a three-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom layout with 1,448 square feet.

Then-area Alderman Robert Bauman, who saw the property just out of his district with redistricting, pushed for the houses to be included in the redevelopment project. The city also brought resources to make that happen. In 2020, a tax incremental financing district was created that provided a $300,000 grant ($75,000 per home) to develop the houses. It also included $650,000 for environmental remediation on the fire-damaged, asbestos-laden school, which the city had acquired in property tax foreclosure from a daycare operator decades after Milwaukee Public Schools sold it. Increased property tax revenue from the school and the four homes will pay back the grant.

“I would say this building is probably the worst building we have tackled in terms of its condition,” said Matkom in August 2020. And Gorman has redeveloped many Milwaukee schools.

The houses, which sit on approximately 7,500-square-foot lots and include a detached garage, are intended to serve as a proof of concept that market-rate, owner-occupied house can work in the area. They also address an urban design issue, with the school sitting approximately 250 feet from W. Vliet Street.

When the plan was publicly discussed in 2021, it was expected the houses would sell for approximately $150,000 and be built for $250,000. Construction costs and sale prices since then have surged, both nationwide and across all Milwaukee neighborhoods. Matkom, speaking off the cuff on Tuesday, said he expected home to cost approximately $400,000 to build.

Real estate agent Missy Buttrum of HomeWire Realty is the listing agent for Gorman.

The houses are being constructed by KGI Construction Group. Quorum Architects designed the houses.

The new owners will not only get a new house, but it’s located on a new street. W. Vliet Street, between 12th and 27th streets, was reconstructed in 2023 due to a surge of funding made available by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The shovel-ready project was previously scrapped nearly a decade prior because construction bids came in far over budget.

The houses are addressed as 2001, 2007, 2015 and 2025 W. Vliet St.

Photos

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McKinley School Lofts

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