Oak Creek Affordable Subdivision Moving Forward

Rendering of affordable subdivision in Oak Creek.

Plans for a new subdivision in Oak Creek comprised entirely of affordable, single-family homes are moving forward.

Milwaukee County is working to redevelop two vacant parcels between Puetz Road and American Avenue into 50 single-family, 1,200-square-foot homes available to first-time home buyers making 80% or less than the median area income. The homes would be listed for sale at between $225,000 and $250,000 each.

It will be the first affordable housing subdivision built in a Milwaukee County suburb.

Officials gathered Monday morning at Oak Creek City Hall to celebrate the project.

The project recently received the necessary approvals from the city of Oak Creek Common Council. The county administration still needs to secure a few final approvals from the Milwaukee County Board, but the plan is to begin construction in 2027, according to James Mathy, housing division director. The subdivision will be developed in phases with a total project cost of approximately $30 million, Mathy said.

The county plans to work with Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity and Knight’s Construction, an Oak Creek High School program that gives students opportunities to work on residential construction projects.

Funding for the development is coming from a $7 million federal earmark secured by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a $2 million budget allocation in 2024 and a $5 million Community Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will be used to bring utilities, roads and other infrastructure to the currently vacant parcels.

Under Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the county has prioritized using federal funding to develop affordable housing in suburban communities to expand housing choices for lower-income families. The county would not be able to move projects like these forward with funding from the state or federal government, Crowley said. “There aren’t any ways that we will be able to utilize our local property tax levy solely to build these levels of projects.”

The approximately 20 acre property in Oak Creek, located east of S. Chicago Road, was acquired by the county through tax foreclosure in 2006. It long sat undeveloped after soil sampling in the 1990s found contamination from building and construction debris dumped at the site decades earlier. More recent environmental testing by The Reese Group found no significant pollution beyond areas previously identified, allowing the county project to move forward.

The next challenge was finding local support. Sup. Steve Taylor, who represents the area on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, applauded Oak Creek council members for supporting the project in the face of community pushback.

“It’s not easy when you have a room full of people telling you not to do something,” Taylor said. “Unfortunately, in the suburbs, that happens far too often, where we don’t want buses coming our way, we don’t want affordable housing.”

“Oak Creek, not unlike many communities across the country, we’re fundamentally built on home ownership and a strong work ethic,” said Oak Creek City Administrator Andrew Vickers, who pointed to the city’s strategic plan that values “access” and “affordability.”

Mathy said his office heard from Oak Creek residents concerned about affordability and, specifically, whether their children would be able to afford to return as adults to the community where they grew up.

The new homes will have caps on equity built into the deeds to make them “permanently affordable,” Mathy said. The equity caps will limit how much an owner can sell the home for in the future, protecting affordability and preventing buyers from flipping the house for a large profit. The structure, also used in land trusts, allows the initial subsidy to benefit future homeowners while still enabling homeowners to build equity.

The Crowley administration anticipates seeking county board approval in the coming months for contracts necessary to begin pre-construction work in 2026 and construction in 2027.

The project includes twice as many homes as when first proposed in 2024.

Update: Story has been updated to include the total project cost.

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