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Community Updates, News Stories, Best Practices, Resources, and other data supporting the development of affordable housing for the citizens of Wisconsin in every city and region in the State. Please consider partnering with us and sharing your story

Sturgeon Bay’s Joint Review Board approved on Aug. 13 the creation of a new Tax Incremental District (TID) on the city’s west side, where a developer wants to build a residential subdivision as well as storage units.

The city’s TID #12 will be retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year. It places six parcels totalling about 77 acres along Division Road, South Ridgeway Avenue and South Ridgeway Drive into a mixed-use district with a maximum life of 20 years.

The new district includes 35.43 acres where a new development is planned along Division Road with 44 single-family residential lots, 11 duplex lots and 34 storage units with optional living spaces. Thirty of the single-family lots are being designated for “workforce housing,” where specific homes will be offered at set prices to Door County workers.

Community Development Director Rebecca Kerwin said the development would also include routing an extension of the Ahnapee Trail through the project site that would separate the housing subdivision from the storage units.

“Total project costs are estimated at $4.48 million, with projected incremental value of about $38.8 million by 2046,” she said...

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Leo's notes: The project is a strong example of how municipalities can use TIF strategically—not simply to subsidize development, but to overcome infrastructure costs and make modestly priced homeownership more feasible. For communities struggling to retain working families, creating attainable ownership opportunities is every bit as important as expanding rental supply.

On May 7, Kenosha County Housing Task Force members attended the Southeastern Wisconsin (SEWI) Housing Summit, which Community Economic Development Extension Educator Savannah Meyers helped facilitate.

The SEWI Housing Summit gathered representatives from ten counties in Southeast Wisconsin at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The event gave attendees an opportunity to learn from a variety of keynote speakers and specialized presentations in breakout rooms. Presentations covered topics such as zoning, legislative developments, trends in housing and households over the last handful of decades, and programs that can promote the construction and funding of affordable and healthy communities in the coming years. 

Speakers relayed significant information about Kenosha County and Wisconsin in general, including the following:

Kenosha and Wisconsin Housing Statistics...

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Leo's notes: The Southeastern Wisconsin Housing Summit highlighted how closely zoning, financing, infrastructure and workforce housing production are intertwined. With new-home affordability increasingly out of reach for many households, the region’s focus on streamlined approvals, higher-density development and expanded WHEDA tools is well placed. The next test is whether these policy changes translate into a sustained increase in actual housing production. Also great article that names and briefly explains the seven bills recently signed into law. For more information, please look in our NEWSLETTER RESOURCES for a more in depth coverage of each bill.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development may shift their funding from 'Housing First' to treatment first programs

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Ken Notes: We need to remember there is a very real cost to all Wisconsin citizens for both the homeless and the lack of workforce housing. If we want groceries, retail stores, meat and dairy, hotels, restaurants, not to mention our daily cup of coffee -- we need to provide quality housing near where the service is provided.

If we want safer neighborhoods we need to address other issues as well. Working with alcohol, drugs, and mental illness is a very real challenge and working together on these issues seems to be the key to success. The housing first approach has proven to be the most successful and cost effective. For the record I am a fiscal conservative and believe there should be a return on our investments.

ENABLING BETTER PLACES: A USER’S GUIDE TO WISCONSIN NEIGHBORHOOD AFFORDABILITY	WHEDA’s Rural Affordable Workforce Housing Initiative	Wisconsin REALTORS® Association
WISCAP Affordable Housing Network	Division of Energy, Housing and Community Resources	Housing Authority City of Milwaukee (HACM)
Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp	WEDA Legislative Tracker	Couleecap
Wisconsin Housing Alliance	Office of Rural Prosperity Wisconsin Economic Development	Tiny Timbers Neighborhood

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Notes: to be included as a Workforce Housing resource email us a link and a brief note to: wwhnews.com@gmail.com...

Habitat for Humanity's Pope Leo Village project, part of a national housing initiative, is creating affordable homes in Milwaukee's Harambee neighborhood, inspired by Pope Leo's mission of community building.

MILWAUKEE —

Habitat for Humanity has launched the Pope Leo Village project in Milwaukee's Harambee neighborhood, part of a national initiative to create affordable housing in 21 cities and build 250 homes across the country.

The project began Friday near Sixth and Locust, with blessings written on the walls and a focus on hope and community.

"As we gather this morning to entrust to God the Pope Leo Village building project by Habitat for Humanity and its partners, our faith should be enlivened and our hearts filled with gratitude," Auxiliary Bishop Jeffrey Haines said.

Seven homes are either completed or under construction in Milwaukee as part of the initiative.

"The Pope Leo Village initiative is been motivated by an anonymous donor who is supporting all the projects across the country. And he reached out to us last year, after Pope Leo was elected with this idea," Kristi Sebald with Habitat for Humanity Milwaukee said...

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Leo's notes: Milwaukee’s Pope Leo Village significance is the focus on ownership: adding attainable starter homes gives working households an opportunity to build equity and establish long-term roots. Rental production remains essential, but healthy communities need pathways into ownership as well.

The Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council warns that a disruption in federal funding for the Fair Housing Initiative Program could have an outsized effect on rural and small communities across Wisconsin.

The council provides services statewide and said rural areas face unique fair housing challenges but often have fewer resources to address them.

Erika Sanders, CEO of the council, said older housing stock in rural areas creates additional challenges for people with disabilities who need accessibility modifications.

"People have the perception that rural communities are all white, and therefore race discrimination doesn't happen in those communities but that's absolutely untrue, especially in areas where Hmong refugees have settled, especially where migrant workers have settled," Sanders pointed out...

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Leo's notes: Wisconsin’s housing shortage makes fair-housing enforcement more important, not less, particularly in rural communities where options and local resources are already limited. Workforce housing policy cannot focus solely on producing units; workers and families must also have equitable access to the homes that are available. Maintaining education and enforcement capacity should be viewed as part of the infrastructure supporting a functional statewide housing market.

GREEN BAY (WLUK) --A new three-year grant worth $150,000 has been awarded to NeighborWorks Green Bay by Associated Bank.

"This support will help us make sure that families continue to make smart decisions with their money and smart decisions about their housing," said NeighborWorks Green Bay President & CEO, Noel Halvorsen.

NeighborWorks Green Bay applied for the grant through a grant portal offered by Associated Bank.

Halvorsen said the nonprofit and the bank have had a relationship for years. A press release says the grant "reinforces a long-standing partnership focused on helping more families prepare for and achieve stable homeownership."

NeighborWorks will receive $50,000 each year from 2026 through 2028. Halvorsen says as many as 1,000 families come to NeighborWorks Green Bay each year...

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Leo’s notes: NeighborWorks Green Bay’s new funding highlights an important complement to building more workforce housing: helping working households successfully access and sustain homeownership. With the share of Wisconsin homes priced below $350,000 falling sharply, counseling, down-payment assistance and homeowner education can help bridge an increasingly difficult affordability gap. Increasing supply remains essential, but communities also need strong pathways that allow today’s workforce to become tomorrow’s homeowners.

Across Wisconsin many employees can simply not afford to live where they work.

This is true in big cities and small rural communities. Both the availability and price of housing is not in line with the needs of those working in jobs that are vital to the success of our communities. Imagine a firefighter, teacher, city employee, service, or retail worker not able to afford a home in the community they serve.

We believe Wisconsin employers will support these efforts so they can successfully recruit workers to fill the thousands of job openings now hampered by a shortage of affordable housing.

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WWHNEWS Notes: To add a resource or correct above send data and link to wwhnews.com[at]gmail.com...