More Funding Needed To Advance School-to-Apartments Conversion
Former Carleton School redevelopment at 41st and Silver Spring first proposed in 2019.
Carleton School, 4116 W. Silver Spring Dr. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The City of Milwaukee will grant a development group an additional year to convert a former Milwaukee Public Schools building into apartments.
Since 2019, a plan has publicly percolated to convert the former Carleton Elementary School, 4116 W. Silver Spring Dr., into apartments. But the project has been beset by the inability to secure enough state-awarded funding to advance. Meanwhile, its costs have grown from $16 million to $21.3 million and the unit count has fallen from 60 to 48.
The development relies on securing low-income housing tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) to create affordable apartments. The credits, often sold to institutional investors, provide equity in exchange for setting specific apartments aside for qualifying households at rates not to exceed 30% of their income.
After being denied credits in 2023, the development team secured a round of credits this spring. But it was approximately half of what was requested. A recent supplemental award brought the development closer to fruition.
“As a condition of closing, all financing needs to be in place,” said Department of City Development real estate specialist Matt Haessly to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee last Tuesday.
“It’s something that started when I was working in the office, so it’s been a long time coming,” said area Alderwoman Andrea Pratt, who was then an aide to her predecessor Ashanti Hamilton. “We have had a lot of neighborhood meetings about it… I am looking forward to something being in that building. Neighbors overall are pretty excited about something coming there.” She said her mother formerly worked in the building. “I am excited about what is coming.”
The city, which would sell the 3.5-acre site for $220,000 on behalf of MPS, would grant the development team until Dec. 31, 2025 to complete the purchase. The development team, initially publicly led by AndersonWebb, won a 2018 requests for proposal to purchase the site. An initial zoning change was approved in 2019 with a follow-up change approved in 2022.
Additional financing could include a developer-financed tax incremental financing district, effectively a property tax rebate increasingly used to close financing gaps in affordable housing developers.
Developers Todd Hutchison, of Wisconsin Redevelopment, and Matthew D. Tadisch, CEO of Selzer-Ornst Construction Company, said they need additional time to finalize the credits with WHEDA and close the financing stack. Tina Anderson and Sherry Terrell-Webb are also developers on the project.
The three-story school would be converted into 30 apartments. Two townhome structures, with 18 total units, would be constructed on the parking lot at the rear of the full-block site.
“Our total development cost on this project is $21.3 million,” said Hutchison. It was $18 million as of the 2022 zoning change.
The townhome component, said Tadisch, would cost between $200,000 and $250,000 per unit to build. The units, built in two rowhouse-style clusters, would include three or four bedrooms and a two-car attached garage. The townhomes would be sold on a rent-to-own basis.
The committee unanimously endorsed the extension. Without action, it would lapse on Dec. 30.
The Art Deco-style school building was originally constructed in 1927 and expanded several times. The cornice of the front entryway gives a 1940 date, while a side door includes an engraving hinting at why it doesn’t look like the other MPS schools of the era. It was built as a school in the Town of Granville, later incorporated into the City of Milwaukee.
The city, as state law requires, first marketed the property for sale exclusively to other school operators before listing it for sale as an adaptive reuse opportunity in 2018. Charter school operator Rocketship secured approval to purchase the school in 2016, but canceled its plans because of the renovation costs.
The final project would be known as Historic Patterson Place to honor Jack S. Patterson. He was a bus driver who the partners previously said was one of a handful of African Americans after World War II to build a home in the area in the face of discrimination. According to the Milwaukee County Transit System, Patterson was the first African American driver hired by its private predecessor.
The development team is working with Continuum Architects + Planners on the design.
2022 Photos
2022 Site Plan
2022 Carleton School site plan. Image released by DCD.
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