Crowley Tours Results of Suburban Affordable Housing Policy

County Executive David Crowley tours Layton Preserve development. Photo taken March 6, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley toured new townhomes in Greenfield Tuesday morning, viewing the product of his administration’s premier affordable housing policy.

The Crowley administration reports that it has spent $45 million on affordable housing projects, including more than $15 million on affordable housing projects in suburban communities. One goal of the suburban projects is economic mobility; giving low-income families the opportunity to live in communities outside of central-city neighborhoods in Milwaukee.

“At the end of the day, this is really about making sure that people have the ability to have access to housing in different places throughout the county if they so choose,” Crowley said.

In Greenfield, the county provided $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for a development called Layton Preserve, near the intersection of S. 99th Street and W. Layton Avenue. Horizon Development Group is leading the project, which should be completed later this year, creating 45 units of affordable housing ranging from one to three-bedroom homes and senior housing. The rents will have variable rates, designed to be affordable for residents making 30%, 50% or 60% of the community median income.

Projects like Layton Preserve do not work unless there is funding to bridge the gap between what it costs to build and what needs to be charged in rent to recoup the costs.

“The ARPA funds from the county, that $2.5 million, these projects just simply don’t happen without that,” said Bob McCaigue, development manager with Horizon.

The total project costs for Layton Preserve amount to approximately $13 million. The price shocks expected to issue from President Donald Trump‘s recently announced tariffs are not expected to affect the project, all the materials have been sourced McCaigue said. Once finished, the project will generate $40,000 in property tax revenue during its first year. The total economic impact of the development is estimated to be more than $14 million.

Along with the county gap funding, the project is being developed with revenue from investors who purchased tax credits from the developers and a loan from BMO.

“To be able to utilize our [ARPA] dollars to make initial investments, feels like we got a little bit ahead of the curve,” Crowley said. “But now that we’ve exhausted those dollars, it’s going to take greater state and federal partnerships.”

The message for state and federal policymakers, Crowley said, is “this works.”

More than once in recent years, the county has had the lowest per-capita homeless population in the nation. The administration sees affordable housing development as a critical component to addressing eviction, housing instability and homelessness.

“As a person who’s also been evicted, had many years of housing instability, I know how much housing means to our communities and our families and particularly our young people,” Crowley said.

Creating new housing opportunities in the suburbs also has the potential to expand children’s imagination about what’s possible for their own lives, Crowley said, “And so if you want to aspire to be county executive; you want to aspire to be a plumber; you want to aspire to be a business owner; you have to be able to live in those communities and see those different types of people in your community.”

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