Three Milwaukee Affordable Housing Proposals Win State Funding

Proposed Austin Commons affordable housing development for 2300 block of S. Austin St. Photo taken April 11, 2025 by Urban Milwaukee staff.

The State of Wisconsin is giving the green light to three proposed affordable housing projects in Milwaukee.

The funding commitments are part of 27 awards being made across the state by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).

Each of the projects is receiving an allocation of low-income housing tax credits, the most commonly used affordable housing tool in Wisconsin, through WHEDA’s annual competitive funding allocation.

“We were able to fund nearly all applications for tax credits this year, helping to build affordable housing for even more people in Wisconsin,” said WHEDA CEO and Executive Director Elmer Moore Jr. in a statement. “Housing tax credits are one of the most critical tools developers can use to build a strong inventory of safe, affordable housing for people to call home.”

The winning Milwaukee projects are a new building at Midtown Center, new senior apartments in Bay View and a redevelopment of the building used for the Milwaukee County City Campus offices (and formerly Doctor’s Hospital).

The Midtown Center proposal, known as Midtown Commons, would involve developing 100 apartments on a vacant lot next to the shuttered Walmart, 5825 W. Hope Ave. A proposal to convert that property into a self-storage complex was rejected in 2023. A zoning change would be necessary to enable the development.

The Bay View proposal calls for developing 100 apartments for seniors by demolishing three homes built on deep lots. The houses were long owned by an affiliate of Klement’s Sausage, but sold to Hintz Holdings in 2023 when the company purchased the former Klement’s plant across the street. The houses, 2318, 2324 and 2332 S. Austin St., have been boarded up in recent months. The properties, which total 47,000 square feet, are already zoned RM6, which would accommodate the desired unit count.

The City Campus proposal calls for redeveloping the remaining unused portions of the complex, owned by Rick Wiegand for the past decade. Wiegand has developed Concordia 27 across Wells Street to the north and is pursuing the sale of the former Wisconsin Avenue School to the south to Advocate Aurora Health. The latest plan for the City Campus building calls for Milwaukee Development Corporation to lead a 124-unit redevelopment of the nine-story structure. A zoning change would be required to advance the proposal. Since February, twenty-four units were added to the published count.

Winning projects often take multiple years to advance to a groundbreaking, with additional capital necessary to complete a project’s financing.

Ten Milwaukee projects were submitted for credits, but five were not advanced beyond a conceptual plan. Two more were excluded in the final award announcement, which a WHEDA spokesperson said was because full applications were not later submitted. It was the first year WHEDA vetted projects in two public phases: the conceptual plans announced in February and the traditional review of full applications and announcement of winners in May.

Twenty-seven of the 39 projects advanced beyond the conceptual round were approved. The 27 approved projects span 13 counties and are intended to provide 1,731 new affordable apartments. WHEDA, using data on household sizes, estimates the credits will create housing for 4,068 people.

Two different grant programs exist. One provides a 9% federal tax credit and the other provides a 4% federal and 4% state income tax credit. WHEDA administers both programs. In 2024, four Milwaukee projects won tax credits.

Winning Projects

2711 W Wells

• Developer: Milwaukee Development Corporation
• Units: 124 (124 Affordable)
• Type: Adaptive Reuse (Elderly)
• Location: City Campus, 2711 W. Wells St.
• Program: 4% Federal, 4% State
• Credit Request: $1,775,029 (Federal), $874,388 (State)

Midtown Commons

• Developer: Wisconsin Preservation Fund, Gorman & Company, One 5 Olive
• Units: 100 (100 Affordable)
• Type: New Construction)
• Location: 5825 W. Hope Ave.
• Program: 4% Federal, 4% State
• Credit Request: $1,429,173 (Federal), $915,905 (State)

Austin Commons

• Developer: Northernstar Companies
• Units: 100 (100 Affordable)
• Type: New Construction (Elderly)
• Location: Former Klement’s-owned houses on 2300 block of S. Austin St.
• Program: 4% Federal, 4% State
• Credit Request: $1,064,006 (Federal), $797,851 (State)

Projects Advanced, But Did Not Submit Full Applications

St. Matthew’s Senior Housing

• Developer: Cupid Development
• Units: 50 (50 Affordable)
• Type: New construction (Elderly)
• Location: 2944 N. 9th St.
• Program: 9% Federal
• Credit Request: $923,295
• More information

Triangle Apartments

• Developer: 9350 W. Fond LLC
• Units: 65 (65 Affordable)
• Type: Adaptive Reuse
• Location: 9350 W. Fond du Lac Ave.
• Program: 9% Federal
• Credit Request: $1.2 million

Not Accepted Projects (February)

633 Wisconsin

• Developer: J. Jeffers & Co.
• Units: 214 (214 Affordable)
• Type: Adaptive Reuse
• Location: Clark Building, 633 W. Wisconsin Ave.
• More information

Urban Oasis

• Developer: A Solution Group CDC, Catalyst Construction, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges
• Units: 90 (90 Affordable)
• Type: Adaptive reuse

Cudahy Farms Phase 1

• Developer: Royal Capital Group
• Units: 212 (212 Affordable)
• Type: New Construction
• Location: 9050 N. Swan Rd.
• More information

Calvary Site Renewal

• Developer: Calvary Housing Management Ltd, KG Development
• Units: 36 (36 affordable)
• Type: New Construction
• Program: 9% Federal

600 @ Bronzeville

• Developer: Thirty Six Blocks, Haywood Group
• Units: 42 (38 affordable)
• Type: Adaptive Reuse/New Construction
• Program: 9% Federal
• Location: 600 W. Walnut St.
• Based on project size, description and existing ownership, the development appears to involve the main building at Central City Plaza.

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