Special Housing Project Breaks Ground

NeuVue groundbreaking. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A new apartment building providing housing for a vulnerable segment of society is poised to rise just across Interstate 43 from Downtown.

The six-story, $16.2 million NeuVue will provide housing to those ages 18 to 24 who are aging out of Neu-Life Community Development‘s youth programming.

The 26-year-old nonprofit will also move into the building at N. 12th and W. Cherry streets.

“NeuVue will help pave the way to self-sufficiency for the young people who will call it home,” said organization founder Joann Harris-Comodore at a groundbreaking ceremony at the site Tuesday afternoon.

“Coming to Neu-Life really saved me,” said JaQuawn Seals, who credited the organization with pulling him away from gangs after he moved to Milwaukee at age 13. He is now a site coordinator for the organization.

The development will include 36 apartments, space for Neu-Life’s culinary school, a production studio, a rooftop courtyard, a two-story gymnasium and underground parking.

“My heart is so full,” said Executive Director Jody Rhodes as she looked out at the crowd, clustered under a large tent to avoid the sun and heat.

“Today is a big day for our family, and not just our family. We’re talking about our Neu-Life family,” said Chanda Harris, Harris-Comodore’s daughter. Harris, the event emcee and the organization’s director of impact, described herself as the program’s first alum and said it has transformed the lives of many other children.

The development was backed by $3.5 million in federal new market tax credits, a $3 million donation from Keith Mardak and Mary Vandenberg, a $1.8 million economic and workforce development grant from the state, $1 million from Herb Kohl Philanthropies and additional contributions from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Burke Foundation, the Green Bay Packers Foundation and the Leising family, which donated a portion of the site.

The city sold a portion of the site to Neu-Life to enable the development. The development is expected to be tax-exempt and will pay $5,000 annually in lieu of taxes as part of the land sale.

“This is the beginning of something that’s going to have a lasting effect,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson. He praised the Neu-Life team for addressing housing, workforce and education in a cohesive way. “I want to thank you for your leadership and your unshakable belief in Milwaukee and in the future of Milwaukee, which is represented by our people.”

Ald. Sharlen P. Moore, a former youth organizer, said investing in Milwaukee’s youth is an investment in Milwaukee’s future. She said it was important that the city create places where youth can feel loved and grow. “These are the spaces that we need to build for our young people,” she said.

The proposal also got the full-throated support of area Ald. Russell W. Stamper II at past council meetings; he was unable to attend the groundbreaking. “I love Neu-Life,” said Stamper at one meeting.

A handful of procedural changes are still making their way through the Common Council to vacate alleys that bisect the site. The City Plan Commission endorsed the vacations Monday afternoon.

Engberg Anderson is leading the complex’s design. A 2023 rendering depicts two buildings connected by a unified first floor, with facades that have no right angles and colored window bays with no obvious pattern.

GCS Construction will serve as the general contractor.

After a ceremonial dirt toss, colorful eggs were buried in the dirt for youth in the program to dig for on Wednesday.

The Neu-Life properties included in the development are addressed at 1210 W. Cherry St., 1216-1218 W. Cherry St., 1501 N. 12th St., 1505 N. 12th St. and 1509 N. 12th St. The city-owned property is addressed as 1515 N. 12th St. The properties will be merged into a single parcel.

A duplex on one of the parcels was demolished in 2023 after it was set on fire for a training exercise by the Milwaukee Fire Department. Harris thanked Fire Chief Aaron Lipski, who attended the ceremony, for saving the organization the cost of demolition.

The area around the development has changed substantially since it was first proposed. The Milwaukee County Mental Health Emergency Center is located to the north and now the new Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center, 1230 W. Cherry St., is open to the west. Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services leader Shakita LaGrant-McClain and deputy David Muhammad attended the ceremony. The former Coggs Center, a converted department store to the south at 1220 W. Vliet St., is being redeveloped as affordable housing.

Photos

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Rendering

Pre-Construction Photos

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