The Community Takes Shape Within the Corridor

A former Briggs & Stratton factory campus will soon see new life as a home for more than 200 people.

A partnership of Que El-Amin, Mikal Wesley, Rayhainio Boynes and Roers Companies is redeveloping the vacant, 6.99-acre manufacturing campus at N. 32nd St. and W. Center St. The two-block campus lines the north side of W. Center St. just west of the 30th Street railroad corridor.

Much of the six-building complex, the oldest of which dates back to 1906, has been vacant since the 1980s, according to a city report. But not for long.

The Community Within The Corridor, as the $66 million redevelopment is known, will create 197 units of affordable housing in four buildings and more than 60,000 square feet of space for accessory uses. Most of the units will be set aside at below-market rates for individuals making less than 80% of the county’s median income for a period of at least 30 years.

It is the largest one-time, private affordable housing development in Wisconsin history.

The project will include 23,000 square feet of commercial space and 40,000 square feet of community and recreational space. Uses for those spaces, as of 2020, include a daycare, laundromat, grocer, gym, office space for Urban Underground, El-Amin’s Young Enterprising Society tech incubation program, Wesley’s Urbane Communities and Boynes’ Sharp Creatives.

The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority is providing $19.7 million in low-income housing tax credits that require the affordable units be set aside for a period of 30 years. The National Park Service and state will also provide $17.43 million in historic preservation tax credits, which will require much of the historic nature of the complex to be preserved. Other funding sources include a bank loan, $1 million of the city’s federal Community Development Block Grant allocation and a $3.15 million developer-financed tax incremental financing district that will effectively rebate increased property tax payments over a period of up to 20 years.

The design is being led by Continuum Architects + Planners and general contracting by Greenfire Management Services.

Construction on the project began in February 2021 and is expected to be completed in early 2022.

Photos

Rendering and Site Plan