| 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 Special Note: Leo and Ken are focused on bringing economic development, regional growth, and workforce housing expertise together at the community level. We hope to help turn new state policy into actual projects - and ultimately into homes for the workers these communities need to sustain their businesses and economy. We are excited to be a part of this conversation. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 10 - Wk: 100 Date: 10/12/2026 5:39:26 PM | ||
| ACT 235 Presentations in Jackson County | ||
| Ken and Leo Note: Thanks to Jackson County Economic Development and Tourism Director Ken Pearson for putting these Corner Booth Coffee Conversations together! | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 42 Date: 10/12/2026 4:01:00 PM | ||
| City of Eau Claire requests proposals for affordable housing projects | ||
Leo's notes: The City of Eau Claire is seeking proposals for affordable housing projects, inviting developers to bring forward opportunities to expand local housing options. The effort reflects a more proactive approach to addressing the city's housing shortage. Soliciting proposals is a positive step, but the real test is whether communities can make workforce housing financially viable. Eau Claire should prioritize projects that deliver homes affordable to local wage earners, particularly smaller homes and missing-middle housing that remain underserved by conventional development. Public incentives should be tied to measurable affordability and additional housing production—not simply the number of proposals received. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 42 Date: 10/12/2026 4:03:34 PM | ||
| Haven on Main opens as new affordable housing option in La Crosse | ||
Leo's notes: Haven on Main demonstrates that affordability, accessibility and inclusive community design can be achieved within the same development. Its downtown location also connects residents to existing infrastructure, services and employment opportunities. Wisconsin needs more housing partnerships that recognize workforce housing is not a single building type or income bracket, but a broader commitment to creating attainable homes for people with diverse needs and abilities. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 42 Date: 10/12/2026 4:08:07 PM | ||
| Tomah Shows Developers 11 Sites Ready for New Housing and Investment | ||
Leo’s notes: Tomah’s event that brought together developers and lenders to tour 11 development sites shows their commitment to close a projected housing gap of 400–700 units by 2030. The city is also pursuing residential TIF under Wisconsin Act 235 and zoning changes to accommodate modular and manufactured homes. Their effort is a prime example of treating housing as economic development, not an afterthought. With only 25 percent of Tomah's workforce living in the city, the consequences are clear. Attracting jobs without creating places for workers to live is an incomplete economic development strategy. Tomah's approach offers a model other Wisconsin communities should be following. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 42 Date: 10/12/2026 5:35:25 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: 10/12/2026 3:21:44 PM | ||
| Eau Claire housing experts discuss repurposing vacant buildings to address affordable housing crisis | ||
Leo's notes: The opportunity being examined by Eau Claire housing experts goes beyond preserving old buildings. Repurposing viable properties can create housing near existing jobs, infrastructure and services while reducing the need for new development sites. Adaptive reuse only advances workforce housing when the finished units are affordable to local wage earners. Communities should prioritize feasible conversions, address financing gaps and measure success by the attainable homes delivered—not simply the buildings saved. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 42 Date: 10/12/2026 5:31:08 PM | ||
| Redfin Report: U.S. Housing Costs Could Return to "Normal" Within 5 Years | ||
Leo's notes: A new Redfin analysis suggests U.S. housing costs could return to 2018 affordability levels within five years under favorable mortgage-rate and price-growth scenarios. However, Milwaukee is among the markets where affordability could take a decade or longer to recover if current trends persist. Waiting for the housing market to correct itself is not a workforce housing strategy. Communities need to accelerate production of smaller homes, duplexes and other attainable ownership options while reducing unnecessary development costs. Affordability should improve because we build housing that matches local incomes—not simply because we wait for wages and interest rates to catch up. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 42 Date: 10/12/2026 4:06:04 PM | ||
| Copper Rocks project breaks ground in La Crosse | ||
Leo's notes: La Crosse’s Copper Rocks development has officially broken ground at the former Kmart site, advancing a long-delayed mixed-use redevelopment by Three-Sixty Real Estate Solutions. Transforming obsolete commercial properties into housing is an opportunity Wisconsin communities should pursue more aggressively. Copper Rocks demonstrates the potential to add substantial housing supply within existing urban infrastructure rather than extending development outward. While its market-rate apartments will not directly address every workforce affordability need, expanding supply and diversifying housing options are important pieces of the solution. The next challenge is ensuring redevelopment opportunities also produce homes attainable to middle-income households. | ||
| Click to Display / Share This Note - Vol: 26 - Wk: 42 Date: 10/12/2026 5:25:34 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: 10/5/2026 7:23:20 PM |