Four Milwaukee Affordable Housing Projects Seek State Tax Credits
Developers propose 297 apartments, including an expanded Harbor District development and two adaptive reuse projects.
Victory Lofts. Rendering by Engberg Anderson.
Four Milwaukee affordable housing developments, totaling 297 apartments, are competing for a key source of financing.
The proposals range from a 140-unit development in the Harbor District to a 40-unit project proposed by a partnership of four development groups.
Across Wisconsin, developers submitted 74 applications representing more than 4,100 affordable apartment units, though the statewide total includes several projects submitted under two different financing programs.
The development groups are vying for competitively awarded low-income housing tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).
The credits are the most common tool used in Wisconsin to create federally defined affordable housing. Receipt of the credits requires developers to set aside a predetermined number of units at a discounted rate for households making less than a specified income, often 60% of the area median income. Rental prices are regulated based on household income limits and intended to be affordable to qualifying residents by not exceeding 30% of a household’s income.
WHEDA uses an annual competitive process to award the credits. Projects are scored according to the state agency’s qualified allocation plan, which considers factors including location, affordability, development costs and the characteristics of the proposed housing.
The 2027 cycle is the first governed by WHEDA’s new 2027-2028 qualified allocation plan. It continues a two-step process in which developers initially submit a conceptual proposal before being allowed to advance to a full application.
The agency received 26 applications for its combined 4% state and federal tax credit program and 48 applications for the 9% federal tax credit program. The applications represent 4,107 affordable units, but that figure includes projects submitted under both programs.
The city of Milwaukee has two applications in each program. All four proposals would provide exclusively income-restricted apartments.
The largest is a substantially revised proposal from developer Brandon Rule to develop KIN at Freshwater in the Harbor District. The project has grown from 90 apartments in the previous application cycle to 140, a 56% increase, but the change actually represents a return to the original size of the now long-proposed development.
The other proposals include Las Casitas, a 69-unit project combining adaptive reuse and new construction; The Revive Collective, a 40-unit new construction project; and Victory Lofts, a 48-unit project combining the reuse of an existing structure with new construction.
The Milwaukee submissions represent a sharp decline from the previous cycle, when 12 development groups proposed 1,102 apartments.
The absence of a proposal from the new cycle does not necessarily mean it has been abandoned. Developers can pursue alternative financing, including noncompetitive credit awards, or reapply in future years.
WHEDA plans to notify development teams of initial eligibility and scoring determinations before the end of November. Developers approved to advance must submit full applications by Feb. 5, 2027. The agency expects to announce credit awards in April 2027.
An allocation of credits would provide a key financing component, but construction could still be years away. Development teams typically sell the credits to institutional investors and must secure additional financing, finalize designs and obtain necessary approvals before breaking ground.
The 2027 applicant lists do not disclose the dollar value of the credits being requested.
Milwaukee Applications
KIN at Freshwater
- Developer: Rule Enterprises, Emem Group
- Units: 140 (140 affordable)
- Type: New construction (Family)
- Location: 200 E. Greenfield Ave.
- Program: 4% State & Federal
- More information
Las Casitas
- Developer: Endeavour Corp., La Causa, Haywood Group
- Units: 69 (69 affordable)
- Type: Adaptive reuse/New construction (Family)
- Location: Milwaukee (address not specified in WHEDA list)
- Program: 4% State & Federal
The Revive Collective
- Developer: Northernstar Companies, Shah Legacy, Housing First, Wisconsin Redevelopment
- Units: 40 (40 affordable)
- Type: New construction (Family)
- Location: Milwaukee (address not specified in WHEDA list)
- Federal Set Aside: 40/60
Victory Lofts
- Developer: Our Solution Community Development Corporation, Shaw Companies
- Units: 48 (48 affordable)
- Type: Acquisition/New construction (Family)
- Location: 2601 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
- Program: 9% Federal
- See more
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