The next phase of the City Place apartments in Milwaukee's Halyard Park neighborhood got an initial endorsement from a city panel Thursday afternoon.
Following up on the completion of City Place I in 2018, the latest plans will add 38 units southeast of West Vine and North Sixth streets. Eight dwelling units will be market rate, and the rest will be affordable.
Six units will be walk-up, townhouse-style units, said Robin Reese, executive director of Thirty Six Blocks Inc., the non-profit development organization heading up the project. The group is working with co-developer
Haywood Group LLC, of Milwaukee, on the project. Haywood Group also worked on the first phase of City Place.
Reese said she anticipates construction to begin in May or June, with completion slated around June 2022. The project is primarily being financed by
low-income housing tax credits.
City Place's first phase, which also contains affordable units, was first proposed in 2017 and completed in 2018. Later phases initially called for market-rate apartments.
But, 36 Blocks has seen sustained demand for affordable units, Reese said. The COVID-19 pandemic has played a factor recently with that demand, she added.
"The intention was to do more market-rate units, thinking that that would be more of a demand, but we're still having a demand with the affordable units that are available there (at City Place), and then in our properties we have," Reese said. "We've never had a problem with lease-up, and I think that's the case with the majority of the newer developments that have gone up. There is a demand still for affordable units."
Reese's comments came during a meeting of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee.
The Redevelopment Authority voted to approve a purchase and sale agreement related to the project.
Yves LaPierre, real estate analyst with Milwaukee's Department of City Development, said the initial agreement with Haywood Group had expired. A new one was needed to take its place.
Other project approvals are needed from the City Plan Commission and the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee, LaPierre said.
