Common Council approves Housing Trust Fund grant award projects
Housing Trust Fund grants totaling $406,000 for affordable and supportive housing projects
The Milwaukee Common Council today approved awarding $406,000 for five projects to create a total of 60 units of affordable housing, including housing for female veterans and their families, and to cover rehab costs for homes for new owners and other city residents that were recommended for approval by the Milwaukee Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Advisory Board.
The projects will leverage an investment of nearly $6.2 million in construction and rehabilitation work this year, said Alderman Michael J. Murphy, chair of the advisory board.
Milwaukee’s ongoing poverty issues and its all-too-abundant supply of foreclosed properties make each of the HTF projects critical for city residents in need, Alderman Murphy said. “For years I have championed the role of the Common Council and the city in creating economic development opportunities and also in addressing the foreclosure crisis,” Alderman Murphy said.
“Economic disenfranchisement, community mental health issues, homelessness and the foreclosure crisis are all tied together here in Milwaukee, and they also drive the need for more supportive and affordable housing, and that is what the Housing Trust Fund Advisory Board considered in selecting this small but critical group of projects,” Alderman Murphy said.
In 2014 the HTF will have $600,000 available for funding grants, Alderman Murphy said.
The 2013 HTF awards include:
- $125,000 – CommonBond Communities for new construction of 26 affordable housing units near W. Fond du Lac Ave. and Melvina St. for female military veterans.
- $100,000 – United Community Center for upgrading a building into 15 units for housing Hispanic women recovering from drug and alcohol problems.
- $76,800 – Milwaukee Christian Center for creating owner occupant/home ownership opportunities by rehabbing existing properties.
- $60,000 – Layton Boulevard West Neighbors for rehab work on foreclosed/in-Rem properties to be sold to low- and moderate-income buyers.
- $44,509 – Dominican Center for Women for owner-occupied rehab work at multiple locations.
Since 2008 the HTF has awarded grants totaling $4.5 million for projects valued at $91.4 million. During that time period, the HTF has helped to create or rehab 619 housing units, at an average cost of $7,270 per unit.
All of the projects were reviewed and recommended for approval by the Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
