| Wisconsin Workforce Housing News | ||
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 | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 10 - Wk: 100 Date: 9/21/2026 3:37:45 PM | ||
| Housing costs have risen sharply in northeast Wisconsin over the last decade | ||
Leo's notes: Households unable to buy remain renters, moderate-income workers compete for limited apartments, and newly constructed ‘starter homes’ can now cost $400,000 or more - a pattern all too familiar throughout the state. Green Bay and Appleton are pursuing zoning and development reforms, but the scale of projected demand shows that Wisconsin also needs tools that directly address construction costs and financing gaps. Workforce housing policy ultimately has to make substantially more homes financially feasible to build. Ken Notes: We run this story way to often with very few solutions. The new Housing TIF may make a difference see state info and our take below. Leo and I are available to talk with your board on this topic... | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 39 Date: 9/21/2026 3:25:25 PM | ||
| SSM Health impact investment supports new workforce housing development | ||
Leo's notes: SSM Health’s investment in Madison’s Bankston Apartments demonstrates the important evolution of moving beyond advocacy and into direct capital investment. The 40-unit downtown development includes 30 apartments reserved for households at or below 80% of Dane County AMI and has particularly relevancy for Wisconsin’s major employers. Housing shortages affect recruitment, retention and community health, and impact investing gives employers another tool to help close financing gaps without becoming housing developers themselves. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 39 Date: 9/21/2026 3:06:10 PM | ||
| Groundbreaking Held for Affordable Housing Apartment Project | ||
Leo's notes: In a market shaped by tourism, seasonal demand and high housing costs, adding year-round rental options is critical to ensuring that the people who sustain local businesses and services can also live in the communities where they work. Next step is to create affordable homes for purchasing. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 39 Date: 9/21/2026 3:08:32 PM | ||
| Wisconsin Workforce Housing Resources | ||
| Notes: to be included as a Workforce Housing resource email us a link and a brief note to: wwhnews.com@gmail.com... | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 10 - Wk: 125 Date: 8/17/2026 9:36:02 PM | ||
| Tax Incremental Financing Documents | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 39 Date: 9/21/2026 3:26:42 PM | ||
| WWHNews Act 235 Guide! | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 39 Date: 9/21/2026 3:27:34 PM | ||
| Former West Allis school to be converted into affordable apartments | ||
Leo's notes: The conversion of the former Longfellow Elementary School in West Allis would transform an existing public asset into 55 apartments—22 within the historic school and 33 in a new addition. Projects such as this one are a prime example of why communities should inventory obsolete schools, institutional buildings and other public properties alongside vacant land. Reusing existing sites can preserve neighborhood character and infrastructure while creating housing in established communities. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 39 Date: 9/21/2026 3:17:23 PM | ||
| 24-unit multifamily development is Watertown is proposed next to Piggly Wiggly | ||
Leo's notes: A 24-unit development may not transform a regional housing shortage on its own, but replicating appropriately scaled multifamily projects throughout communities can steadily expand supply, make better use of existing infrastructure and provide workers with more choices close to jobs and everyday services. Projects at this scale are an important part of Wisconsin’s missing-middle conversation. Ken Notes: Just a reminder, while we continue to see more and more affordable rental workforce housing, WE NEED more affordable home OWNERSHIP options! | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 39 Date: 9/21/2026 3:28:59 PM | ||
| Council Approves Revised TID #12 Development Agreement | ||
Leo's notes: Sturgeon Bay’s revised TID 12 agreement demonstrates how tax increment financing can be used not simply to support development, but to intentionally shape the housing that gets built. The planned mix of single-family and duplex lots—including homes designated for workforce housing—creates an opportunity to expand attainable ownership while using public investment to overcome the infrastructure costs that often make new subdivisions difficult to finance. Great example of utilizing newly drafted residential TIF law for neighborhood development. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 39 Date: 9/21/2026 3:30:58 PM | ||
| About Wisconsin Workforce Housing News (WWHNews.com) | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 10 - Wk: 125 Date: 8/13/2026 3:49:48 PM | ||
| List of Housing Resources | ||
| WWHNEWS Notes: To add a resource or correct above send data and link to wwhnews.com[at]gmail.com... | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 11 - Wk: 125 Date: 9/21/2026 5:55:51 PM |