Nine multi-family affordable housing projects located in the city of Milwaukee have been allocated $15.3 million in tax credits. A total of $32.4 million in tax credits was announced Monday by Gov. Tony Evers and the
Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) for projects across the state. The tax credits will be used to help fill financing gaps caused by rising construction costs, interest rate increases and supply chain delays. Those tax credits are being payed for by ARPA funding received by the state.
“Wisconsin’s need for safe, affordable housing has grown, so we also chose not to limit the awards to the ARPA funds,” said
Elmer Moore Jr., WHEDA CEO and executive director.
The projects within Milwaukee getting funding include:
- Bethesda Cornerstone Village – Highland (new construction) $1,888,000
- Bronzeville Scattered Sites (mixed construction) $1,958,206
- City Place II (new construction) $2,000,000
- Edison School Apartments (mixed construction) $2,000,000
- Eighteen87 on Water (mixed construction) $515,000
- Five Points Lofts (new construction) $1,000,000
- Garden Homes Apartments (acquisition/rehabilitation) $973,000
- MLK Library Apartments (new construction) $2,000,000
- Riverwest Workforce Apartments & Food Accelerator (new construction) $2,000,000
- Westlawn Renaissance VII (new construction) $1,004,000
Between all nine projects, 650 new units will be created within the city. There is also one Ozaukee County project receiving funding. Woodside Prairie, a new construction project in Grafton, will create 32 new housing units. The project is getting $1.8 million.
In exchange for the tax credits, developers agree to reserve housing units for low- and moderate-income households for at least 30 years. Any remaining units are rented at market rates.
In April, Gov. Evers announced that $20 million in ARPA funding would be made available to developers to help fill shortages in capital sources needed for multifamily housing projects that received federal or state housing tax credits in 2020 or 2021.
During the application process, WHEDA received grant requests totaling more than $38 million from developers. In addition to $5 million in added ARPA funds, WHEDA is adding another $7.4 million using its federal allocation of National Housing Trust funds, bringing the total funding available to $32.4 million and supporting 85 percent of the total requested project funding.
