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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

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: By converting long-vacant upper-story space above an active downtown business into attainable apartments, the project shows how adaptive reuse can deliver housing without greenfield expansion or costly new infrastructure in Sturgeon Bay. Its rapid lease-up reinforces a broader market reality: small-scale, well-located infill housing remains one of the most effective tools for supporting permanent residents in high-pressure tourism economies.

Ken Notes: Rehabbing older properties and adaptively reusing abandoned properties are another tool in the development belt for workforce housing.

Bear Development wants to build a seven-story, 222-unit complex

The “W,” “M” and “C” have disappeared from the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce office building on East Washington Avenue, and soon all the letters could come tumbling down. The building is slated to be demolished, and under a plan submitted to the city, seven stories of affordable housing would be built.

The Madison city council signed off on financing to help fund the project Tuesday, authorizing a tax incremental finance loan of $1.66 million. The funding would help close about a third of the total financing gap of roughly $5 million; the total project is projected to cost roughly $81 million...

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Leo's notes: The conversion of a long-standing office property on East Washington Avenue into 222 income-restricted apartments reflects a broader market transition: underutilized commercial sites are increasingly becoming prime candidates for high-density workforce housing in strong-growth cities like Madison. Just as important, the layered financing structure — combining TIF, WHEDA tax credits, and private development capital — underscores the reality that affordable housing production at scale still depends on substantial public-private partnership.

Ken Notes: The problem is it is expensive and the end result is either heavily subsidized or prohibitively expensive.

The note represents the biggest multifamily HUD financing ever closed in the state.

Klein Development and MOS R.E. have obtained $114 million in financing for the transformation of the 100 East Wisconsin, a historic office building in Milwaukee, into a 373-unit luxury community.

Dwight Capital originated the HUD 221(d)(4) substantial rehabilitation loan on behalf of the developers. Additionally, The City of Milwaukee provided a tax increment financing package of up to $16.6 million through a newly established tax increment district.

The credit will be used for both construction and permanent financing for the project.

The loan is the largest multifamily HUD loan ever closed in Wisconsin and the largest such credit approved by HUD’s Midwest Region Office. Moreover, it is the biggest HUD 221(d)(4) construction loan in Dwight Capital’s history...

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Leo's notes: The 100 East Wisconsin conversion signals how deeply capital markets and public finance are now intertwined in large-scale downtown adaptive reuse. With more than $114 million in total financing, the deal reflects how office-to-residential projects increasingly depend on complex, stacked capital structures to pencil in. While branded as a luxury transformation led by Klein Development and MOS R.E., the inclusion of roughly 20% affordable units shows the continuing policy expectation that even high-end redevelopments must carry measurable public benefit...

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...

One of the Milwaukee area's largest apartment developments, this one converting a downtown office tower, will begin construction after Memorial Day.

The vacant 100 East building is being redeveloped into 373 apartments, including 75 "workforce housing" units...

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Leo's notes: (content behind pay wall) The redevelopment of the 100 East tower reflects a broader shift in urban housing policy: converting obsolete office space into mixed-income residential use. With 373 apartments, including 75 workforce units, the project signals growing recognition that downtown recovery and housing affordability are increasingly tied together in the Milwaukee market. Large-scale adaptive reuse projects like this also demonstrate how existing commercial buildings can absorb new housing demand faster and more efficiently than ground-up development alone.

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Leo's notes: By placing two supportive units on a long-vacant lot in Oshkosh, the project aligns housing delivery with specific populations—those transitioning from homelessness, domestic violence, or refugee resettlement—rather than relying solely on broad-market affordability metrics. It also reinforces a pragmatic development pattern emerging across Wisconsin: modest, grant-supported projects that rely on local foundations and revolving public funds to produce immediate, place-based housing outcomes.

Over the last 30 years, housing costs have increased substantially, making it difficult for young professionals to purchase a first home.  Creating community driven neighborhoods with high quality homes built on low cost lots, will diversify the housing market within Washington County. The Next Generation Housing Initiative will fill the market void in our suburban/exurban communities, providing attainable quality housing opportunities throughout Washington County for our next generation workforce. One of the main goals for Next Generation Housing is to support investments in the housing stock and advance the quality of the neighborhoods in the County.

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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...