Nine affordable housing projects will receive $6.6 million in tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to help create 1,065 units of affordable rental housing in the state.
“More than a thousand families will now have the tremendous opportunity to live in affordable housing through the new state tax credit program,” said WHEDA executive director Wyman Winston. “Those families living in affordable as opposed to market rate units will literally save millions of dollars over the lifetime of the developments. Those are dollars that go right back into local economies because families can make independent saving or spending decisions thanks to those extra savings.”
WHEDA received 15 applications this year for state housing tax credits, representing $10.4 million in requests. With a total available pool of approximately $7 million, this demonstrates the continued need for affordable housing in Wisconsin, according to Winston.
State housing tax credits are awarded over a six-year period and this year’s allocation will generate approximately $40 million in credits over their lifespan. In exchange for receiving the state tax credits, developers agree to reserve a portion of their housing units for low- and moderate-income households for at least 30 years. Remaining units are rented at market rates to seniors and families without income limits.
The state tax credits will help finance affordable housing units in Dane, Sheboygan, Brown, Kenosha, Pierce, La Crosse and Douglas counties.
Projects receiving tax credits include:
- Artisan Village, Dane County, 169 units, $1.2 million, Bear Development
- Badger State Lofts, Sheboygan County, 118 units, $994,303, KCG Development
- Broadway Lofts, Brown County, 107 units, $764,627, TWG Development, LLC
- Creekside Commons, Kenosha County, 140 units, $1 million, Bear Development, LLC A
- Fitchburg Senior Apartments, Dane County, 160 units $932,926, E.J. Plesko & Associates, Inc.
- The Depot at 300 River Street, Pierce County, 50 units, $351,824 Gerrard Development LLC
- Wasserman Redevelopment, LLC, Sheboygan County, 105-units,, $596,108, Housing Authority of the City of Shebogyan
- WHPC – EBHG Bond Pool, La Crosse County, $197,613, 59 units, Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp.
- WHPC – Northwestern Bond Pool Award, Douglas County, 157 units, $538,102 Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp.
Locally, Kenosha-based Bear Development received $1.03 million in tax credits for Creekside Commons, a 140-unit multi-family development in Pleasant Prairie.
“The tax credit initiative provides an additional investment tool for WHEDA to establish meaningful development partnerships throughout the state,” said S.R. Mills, president of Bear Development. “Bear Development is proud to work with Wyman Winston and his team to create more access to workforce housing and stimulate economic growth in this region.”
Bear also received $1.2 million in tax credits for a 169-unit affordable housing project the company is doing in Dane County.
This year’s affordable tax credit announcement was made at Bear’s Whitetail Ridge senior housing development in Paddock Lake. The project received $749,508 in tax credits during the 2017 cycle.
