Hoping to increase ongoing efforts to boost homeownership in the city, Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity plans to double the number of homes in builds in Milwaukee each year.
Historically the nonprofit has built 20 homes per year in Milwaukee, but this year it plans to build 30 houses in the city with a goal of constructing 40 structures there by 2028.
This year, the nonprofit plans to construct 19 homes in the King Park and Midtown neighborhoods, as part of a partnership with Milwaukee County, as well as another 11 houses in the Harambee neighborhood.
“For most families, their single largest monthly expense is for housing. It’s either rent or (it’s a mortgage payment),' said Brian Sonderman, executive director of Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, at a recent groundbreaking event in the King Park neighborhood. “Both of those provide shelter, but they produce very different results. As rents have outpaced wages, particularly for those earning between $12 and $24 an hour, so many families are stuck having set aside huge amounts of their budgets just for housing and that leaves very little left over for everything else.”
While increasing Habitat’s production to 30, or 40 homes per year, is an ambitious goal, Sonderman said the effort is needed to help Milwaukeeans who have been denied the chance to become homeowners. That’s especially true for Black and Hispanic families, who have disproportionately been shut out from such wealth-building opportunities. According to Community Development Alliance’s (CDA) affordable housing plan, about 27% of Black families in Milwaukee owned their homes in 2019. Home ownership among White families in the city that year was roughly 56%, while homeownership rates for Hispanic families was 37.5%.
“Together, and only together, can we level the playing field for those that have been priced out of the housing market. I say together, because, let’s face it, we have a massive housing crisis in our community. It exists in Milwaukee. It exists throughout our state, and it exists throughout our country, but particularly in Milwaukee we have an unconscionable racial disparity gap when it comes to home ownership,” Sonderman said. “Make no mistake, 40 homes per year is an ambitious goal. It would put us among the top 10 Habitat affiliates across the country. But I believe we have the wind at our back. Even more so, we have the opportunity to collaborate with greater vision and strategy than ever before. This type of growth will necessitate more funds, more volunteers, and more partnerships.”
King Park and Midtown
To help give supporters a sense of the nonprofit’s work in action, Sonderman made the announcement during a groundbreaking for one of the 80 single-family homes, Milwaukee Habitat plans to construct in the King Park and Midtown neighborhoods over the next four years.
“The home that will be built on this vacant lot will stand for decades to come. But more than that, the family that purchases this home will invest in this asset and they will eventually be able to pass it down to their children or use it to build equity to buy their next home,” said Sonderman, standing on a grassy lot at 1316 W. Kneeland St. in King Park.
All told, 120 homes will be built as part of the project, with Milwaukee development firm Emem Group constructing 40 stand-alone duplexes as part of the effort.
Funded in part by a $6 million, competitive American Rescue Plan Act grant allocated by the state, the infill development is aimed at increasing homeownership among Black and Hispanic residents in the city.
Reserved for first-time home buyers, the houses are expected to be about 1,000 square feet in size with three bedrooms and one bathroom and should be priced at around $100,000, said Jim Mathy, Milwaukee County’s housing division administrator.
The houses will be constructed on vacant single-family lots scattered throughout the neighborhood, spanning roughly from West Vilet and North 13th streets to West North Avenue and North 27th Street.
Habitat expects to begin construction on the first 19 of its 80 single-family homes by early June. Those homes should be done by early 2025, Mathy said. Emem Group should break ground on the first of its duplexes in late 2023 or spring 2024, said Michael Emem, the company’s CEO.
Milwaukee Habitat will serve as a prime subcontractor for the duplexes, providing construction management services, Emem added. After the mandatory 15-year tax credit compliance period the homes will be sold to Milwaukee Habitat, which will then sell those homes to first-time homebuyers, Emem said.
“As real estate development projects get harder and harder, innovation and collaboration are what you need,” Emem said, “because costs aren’t going down.”
Neighborhood impact
The one-story homes will feature a new design Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity is introducing called “The Allen.” Named in honor of long-time Milwaukee Habitat volunteer, Bill Allen, the three-bedroom homes will be more efficient to build and will help maintain affordability for prospective homebuyers, Milwaukee Habitat said. The homes will be reserved for families making $12 to $24/hour, a group that has been priced out of the housing market, which has seen prices skyrocket.
The mortgage payments for the homes are expected to be $950 a month. Rents for the duplexes will be between $450 and $850.
“This is not a giveaway program,” Sonderman said. “Families pay back a mortgage, but it is simply at a price they can afford.”
Any homes constructed as part of the project will have deed restrictions that ensure they remain permanently affordable. Additionally, the county is spending another $1.5 million in county ARPA funds to make renovations to King Park itself, specifically the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.
The county decided to focus on the area as part of its effort to build a new Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Building on a vacant parcel at 1260 W. Cherry St., while also seeking ideas to redevelop the existing Coggs building just a few blocks away at 12th and Vilet streets, Mathy said.
“We wanted to see how we could really improve the surrounding neighborhood,” he said.
