Correction: City of Milwaukee Collaborating With Four Development Teams to Build Affordable Homes on Vacant City Lots

MILWAUKEE – The City of Milwaukee Department of City Development (DCD) is in process of working with four development teams that were selected through a Request for Qualifications process to build new, affordable, owner-occupied homes on City-owned lots through the Revive Housing Development: Attached Housing Pilot Program.

The selected development teams are:

• Community First, Inc.
  • Co-Developer: VERA Property Management LLC
  • Architect: Engberg Anderson Architects
• Moxie Development Collective, LLC
  • Architect: Sean Meyers Architect, Inc.
• UniteWI, LLC
  • Co-Developer: Emem Group
  • Architect: DreamBuilders
• Layton Boulevard West Neighbors, Inc d/b/a VIA Community Development Corporation
  • Architect: BMR Design Group

Through the pilot program, the selected teams will work closely with DCD to design and construct approximately 20 new for-sale homes on City-owned vacant lots. The initiative is focused on creating affordable homeownership opportunities for households earning up to 80% of the area median income (AMI), while introducing housing styles that are not currently being delivered at scale in Milwaukee.

The initiative is being launched as part of Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s 2026 Year of Housing, a citywide effort focused on increasing housing supply, expanding housing options, and making homeownership more attainable for Milwaukee residents.

“Milwaukee families deserve more opportunities to own a home and build wealth in their neighborhood,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “Through our Year of Housing, we are working to expand the supply and variety of housing available to residents, and this initiative is a great example of the work in action. By putting vacant City-owned lots back to productive use and supporting new, affordable homes, we are investing in Milwaukee neighborhoods and creating more pathways for homeownership.”

The Revive Housing Development program was created in response to community feedback identifying a need for a greater diversity of affordable homeownership options. In 2025, the City of Milwaukee adopted the updated Housing Element to the Comprehensive Plan, which encouraged the development of additional styles of attached housing, including townhomes, rowhouses, duplexes and other innovative housing models that can fit within Milwaukee’s existing neighborhoods.

“Expanding the types of housing we build is an important part of addressing Milwaukee’s housing needs,” DCD Commissioner Lafayette Crump said. “This initiative gives us an opportunity to work directly with local development teams to build new attached housing models and turn underutilized land into high-quality, affordable homes that fit within Milwaukee’s existing neighborhoods.”

DCD is in process of working with the selected developers to identify appropriate City-owned vacant lots for development and advance the proposed housing designs through the City’s development and approval process. Each selected team will receive a design subsidy in the amount of $25,000 to develop proposed designs that can fit on standard city-lots and be replicated for future home construction. Selected developers will also be eligible to receive development subsidies through the program, to assist with making the new homes financially feasible for homeownership for families below 80% of the Area Median Income.

Later this fall, the development teams will present their proposed developments for review and approval by the Common Council.

Funding for the Revive Housing Development: Attached Housing Pilot Program is provided from both local funding proposed by Mayor Cavalier Johnson and approved by the Milwaukee Common Council as part of the City of Milwaukee’s 2026 Budget, as well as federal funding provided via a PRO Housing grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. There is currently $2.8 million allocated to supporting new home construction under the initiative, which is anticipated to support construction of approximately 20 new homes for sale for affordable homeownership.

The Revive Housing Development: Attached Housing Pilot Program is part of the City’s broader efforts to expand housing choice, increase homeownership opportunities, reduce the number of vacant City-owned lots, and support the development of strong, walkable Milwaukee neighborhoods.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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