Crowley Tours South Milwaukee Affordable Housing Project

County Executive David Crowley tours Bucyrus-Erie industrial campus under demolition. Photo taken March 9, 2026, by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley visited a large, county-backed redevelopment project in South Milwaukee on Monday.

Two years ago, the county provided $3 million in funding for the $50 million redevelopment of former office buildings on the Bucyrus-Erie industrial campus, 1100 Milwaukee Ave., including more than $3 million to support the development of affordable housing units and a new senior center.

The campus is being redeveloped by Scott Crawford Inc., led by developer Que El-Amin. For more than a century, the campus was used by the Bucyrus-Erie Co., manufacturer of the Bucyrus-Erie steam shovel. Today, the site is being demolished as part of the redevelopment.

El-Amin is working with Khalek Building Services to construct 134 units ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments, of which 76 will be rented at affordable rates. The developer is also repurposing former office space for a new elementary school for the Guidance Academy, a private Islamic school currently operating at 1800 16th Ave.

Once complete, the county will relocate the Kelly Senior Center, currently in Warnimont Park, to a 22,000-square-foot space in the building. The new space is larger than the existing senior center, which was originally constructed as a military barracks in the 1950s. The center needs approximately $2.5 million worth of maintenance.

“What we are building here is exactly what this campus was always meant to be, a multifunctional, mixed-income campus that serves the community across generations,” El-Amin said during a press conference and tour of the building Monday.

The project is part of a push to create more affordable housing options in suburban communities that has occurred under Crowley. The policy is aimed at creating more options for families looking for affordable housing, allowing them to live in a “neighborhood of their choice,” Crowley said.

Growing up, Crowley’s family struggled with housing instability. “I remember my family moving around a lot, quite frankly,” he said. Affordable, stable housing is a critical building block in the county’s strategic plan to achieve racial equity and become the healthiest county in Wisconsin, the county executive said.

His administration used federal stimulus funds released during the COVID-19 pandemic to support affordable housing projects across the county. The county provided $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to the redevelopment project in South Milwaukee. On top of that, the county added $500,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds.

“That was pretty significant for the county,” said James Mathy, housing administrator for Milwaukee County. “It’s the first time in the county’s history where they used CDBG funds towards acquisition for housing.”

The county must allocate CDBG funds outside the City of Milwaukee because the city has a housing authority that runs its own CDBG program.

South Milwaukee Mayor Jim Shelenske celebrated the redevelopment project and said the Bucyrus-Erie campus is a site of “tremendous significance” for South Milwaukee. “Today we are writing the next chapter of the story, one that honors the past while embracing growth and progress,” he said.

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