Public Meetings On King Park Homeownership Project Announced

New houses rise along W. Harmon St. in Josey Heights. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee County is holding a series of information meetings on homeownership projects coming to the King Park neighborhood.

In 2022, Milwaukee County used approximately $6 million in COVID-19 stimulus funds from the state to advance a major housing initiative in King Park that will develop 120 homes for low-income, first-time homebuyers. The county partnered with the Community Development Alliance (CDA) on the project, which was actually drawn from a city-wide affordable housing plan created by the CDA in 2021. Paired with the project is a $1.5 million investment in repairs to the King Park Community Center.

Two developers were selected for the project. Habitat for Humanity will build 80 single-family homes and Emem Group will build 20 duplexes.

The public information meetings are being hosted by the county’s Office of Equity and CDA and they begin July 22.

The office released a statement saying the meetings will give “concerned neighbors and future residents” the opportunity to learn about the homeownership projects coming to the neighborhoods surrounding the Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Building at 1220 W. Vliet St.

Along with choosing this area for a homeownership project, the county is planning to develop a new $42 million human services building at 1230 W. Cherry St. just north of the Coggs building. The new human services building will replace the Coggs building for the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, but it will retain the Coggs name. The county also opened the new $12 million Mental Health Emergency Center in the same area at 1525 N. 12th St. in 2022.

County Executive David Crowley and his administration made housing a priority for the county’s approximately $185 million allocation of federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, including allocating $9.5 million in funds for affordable housing projects in suburbs around the county.

The CDA also has four other “priority strategy areas” that it plans to work on as the King Park project advances, according to the release. These include building 100 homes on vacant lots every year, securing and selling to owner-occupants 100 single-family homes and duplexes that might otherwise be purchased by investors, growing down payment assistance and homebuyer counseling and creating a local lending pool for first-time homebuyers based on rental history.

Meeting Schedule

• Saturday, July 22, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (Virtual) Sign up here.
• Wednesday, July 26, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. In-person meeting at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 1531 W. Vliet St. Sign up here.
• Saturday, July 29, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (Virtual) Sign up here.
• Residents may also visit county.milwaukee.gov/EN/Office-of-Equity to register for any of the above sessions.