Affordable housing complex planned next to former Midtown Center Walmart

Oregon, Wisconsin-based development firm Gorman & Company plans to build a 200-unit affordable housing development next to the former Walmart store at 5825 W. Hope Ave within the Midtown Center retail complex on Milwaukee’s northwest side. The plan advanced Monday after the city’s Plan Commission approved a zoning change for the project.

The housing development, named Midtown Commons, will consist of two four-story buildings, each containing 100 apartment units of 25 one-bedroom units, 40 two-bedroom units and 35 three-bedroom units. The project site is east of North 60th Street and north of West Hope Ave and is currently a surface parking lot of the former Walmart store building. The project will span across 10 acres of land and is part of a broader multi-phase redevelopment of the site, developers said...

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Leo's notes: Milwaukee’s Midtown Commons proposal marks a major step toward reinvesting in underutilized retail land, with the project combining family-sized units, service partnerships, and public-facing amenities—both a housing solution and a catalyst for broader corridor revitalization. As seen in a few instances now, the market is heading towards large-scale affordable housing delivered through retail-to-residential conversions. As aging commercial sites lose viability, they represent one of the most scalable opportunities to add meaningful housing supply in built-out urban areas.