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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

MILWAUKEE - The Brewers Community Foundation joined local leaders on Tuesday, May 26, to kick off construction on a new Habitat for Humanity home in Milwaukee. 

Joining the kick-off event were Mayor Johnson, County Executive Crowley, and Alderman Stamper.

What we know:

According to a news release, the home is one of 40 new houses Milwaukee Habitat will build this year, each sold to first-time home buyers at an affordable rate. 

"We're focused on housing quality, housing access, and housing affordability – and there's no better partner to work to make sure that folks in Milwaukee have access to quality, affordable housing than our partners at Habitat for Humanity," said Mayor Johnson...

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Leo's notes: While much of Wisconsin's housing conversation focuses on large-scale multifamily developments, Habitat's work underscores the continued importance of attainable homeownership. Creating pathways for first-time buyers not only addresses housing affordability but also helps families build wealth, stabilize neighborhoods and strengthen long-term community investment. Solving the housing shortage will require both new rental housing and expanded opportunities for ownership across a range of income levels.

Ken Notes: And the Brewers are four and a half games up in the NL Central, so building lower cost homes statistically improves your chances of a championship season, spread the word!

Kolbe Windows & Doors has completed its new multifamily, workforce-housing development, Evergreen Landing Apartments on 8th. The four-building, three-story, 44,000-square-foot residential complex brings 102 new units to Wausau, Wisconsin.

Kolbe hosted a grand opening event that included a ribbon-cutting with members of the Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce, city officials, local business leaders, and project team members from across the state.

The Evergreen Landing Apartments on 8th are near Kolbe’s main manufacturing facility and are close to childcare, public parks, transit, and community amenities. “We’re proud the development provides an affordable, high-quality living option for individuals and families within our community, including for current and future team members at Kolbe,” said Mike Tomsyck, Kolbe Windows & Doors’ vice president of transportation and risk management, who oversaw the project’s development...

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Leo's notes: Built steps from its own factory, Kolbe Windows & Doors has completed a 102-unit workforce-housing development in Wausau. This is the kind of leadership our communities need—an employer who treats housing not as someone else's problem, but as a direct investment in its people. When businesses build homes for the workforce that sustains them, families find stability, hiring gets easier, and Wisconsin grows stronger for it...

Attracting and retaining residents — especially young people and professionals — is key for the future of rural communities

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Leo’s notes: While eight units alone won't solve Door County's housing shortage, converting underutilized downtown spaces into housing creates new opportunities without requiring additional land or major infrastructure investments. As communities across Wisconsin search for attainable housing solutions, adaptive reuse projects like this offer a practical model for adding housing while strengthening downtown business districts and preserving community character.

Construction costs, lack of capital are a drag on Wisconsin’s housing market. But Milwaukee's nearly 600-unit Corliss housing development offers a blueprint for breaking the logjam.

Kenosha-based Bear Development has done something unprecedented by building the largest private affordable housing development in the state. 

When it is completed later this year, The Corliss in Milwaukee will provide 576 affordable housing units spanning eight buildings, including 144 units for seniors. The $197 million project involved a complex funding scenario that included National Housing Trust funds, tax incremental financing and a Brownfield Cleanup Revolving Loan from the city.

The complex funding arrangement reflects the reality of building affordable housing, said Elmer Moore Jr., the CEO of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority...

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Leo's notes: The Corliss demonstrates that addressing Wisconsin’s housing deficit will require projects at a scale rarely seen in the state. While smaller infill developments remain important, large mixed-income and affordable housing communities can deliver hundreds of units at once and create the density needed to support neighborhood amenities, transit, and economic growth. The project also underscores a key reality facing communities statewide: solving the housing shortage increasingly depends on strong public-private partnerships, flexible local policies, and creative financing structures that help bridge the gap between development costs and housing affordability.

Ken Notes: Now we need equity building ownership options like small homes and condos.

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	NRA Housing Needs By State / Wisconsin
Wisconsin Housing Alliance	Office of Rural Prosperity Wisconsin Economic Development

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

A new affordable housing project built in vacant space above a Sturgeon Bay arcade and bowling alley opens with a ribbon cutting and tours of its eight apartments May 29.

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Leo’s notes: While eight units alone won't solve Door County's housing shortage, converting underutilized downtown spaces into housing creates new opportunities without requiring additional land or major infrastructure investments. As communities across Wisconsin search for attainable housing solutions, adaptive reuse projects like this offer a practical model for adding housing while strengthening downtown business districts and preserving community character.

Developer Brian Spoerl during a ribbon cutting ceremony at The Hampton community housing called Milwaukee County‘s $3 million investment a “game changer” for housing projects.

The founder and managing director of Spoerl Commercial made the comments shortly before announcing the opening of the 17-unit property in Whitefish Bay on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Hampton Road, which got its occupancy permit the same morning on May 28, Spoerl said. Milwaukee County pitched in $3.09 million to help cover building costs, roughly half the entire project cost, he added. Spoerl praised County Executive David Crowley for his agency’s help.

“Executive Crowley’s economic mobility to the suburbs funding has been a game changer,” he said. “And not only for this project, but for many projects throughout Milwaukee County.”

The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority also pitched in $1.16 million...

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Leo's notes: The Hampton illustrates how suburban communities are increasingly becoming part of the affordable housing solution. Milwaukee County’s willingness to support housing development beyond the urban core recognizes that housing affordability is a regional issue, and that expanding housing choices in high-opportunity communities can improve economic mobility, workforce access, and long-term community health. A model worth replicating outside of other major WI cities.

New analysis shows Milwaukee metro area had the highest housing price-to-income ratio in the region.

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Leo's notes: In the Milwaukee region, the median home price has climbed to 5.2 times the median household income, while Madison now sits at 5.0 times income—both among the highest ratios in the Midwest. Historically, a healthy housing market hovered closer to a 3:1 ratio. This data reinforces a reality increasingly visible across Wisconsin: the housing challenge is no longer confined to low-income households. When home prices consistently outpace wage growth, communities risk losing teachers, healthcare workers, tradespeople, and young families who form the backbone of local economies. Expanding housing supply across all price points—including starter homes, workforce housing, and attainable ownership opportunities—will be essential if Wisconsin hopes to remain competitive and economically resilient in the decades ahead.

Ken Notes: We have many neighborhoods in the region that are very exclusive and are not focused on more affordable housing for the workforce that provides the lifestyle these homeowners want to enjoy (i.e restaurants, hotels, recreation, retails services, not to mention the very workers in the businesses that created the wealth in the first place. We must start building neighborhoods for these service and retail and service workers or we will fail our children and grandchildren.

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...