Heartland to increase housing for poor, homeless
A decade ago, Chicago-based Heartland Housing Inc. entered Milwaukee with a proposal to build apartments for people with mental illnesses.
Heartland is now working on two new developments that would more than double the number of affordable apartments it operates here.
One would provide housing mainly for homeless people. The other would create apartments for low- and moderate-income seniors and families.
“We’re trying to offer comprehensive solutions,” said Michael Goldberg, Heartland Housing executive director.
Those new buildings would total around 120 units. Heartland now operates 99 apartments in Milwaukee, Heartland’s second-largest market after Chicago.
‘More than a handout’
The apartments are partly financed with federal tax credits that require developers to provide units at below-market rents to people earning no more than 60% of the local median income. Some renters earn below 30% of that income level.
For those poorest residents, providing apartments with support services, such as substance abuse counseling and help with finding child care, is essential to reducing homelessness, Goldberg said.
“It’s more than a handout,” said Goldberg, whose nonprofit group owns nearly 1,200 units in Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison.
“Housing is fundamental. We can’t expect someone to thrive if they don’t have a decent, safe and affordable roof over their head,” he said.
There’s a growing nationwide movement for creating such housing developments to help improve the health of poor people, which reduces Medicaid costs for state and federal taxpayers.
But housing tax credits could face cutbacks as Congress considers possible tax code changes — even as it becomes more difficult for both low- and middle-income people to afford housing, according to a new analysis by Freddie Mac.
2 new projects
Heartland’s newest development is the 60-unit St. Anthony’s Apartments. That $15.3 million project is under construction and will open next October at 1004 N. 10th St.
Heartland staged a Monday groundbreaking ceremony for St. Anthony’s, which will operate on downtown’s west side in a remodeled former community corrections facility.
Also, Heartland hopes to begin renovations in 2019 at the former 37th Street Elementary School, 1715 N. 37th St., east
of Washington Park. That $15 million development would create roughly 60 units if it obtains tax credits and other financing sources.
The Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee on Tuesday recommended selling the former school to Heartland for $210,000.
Extending a mission
St. Anthony’s Apartments extends Heartland’s original Milwaukee mission: providing housing for homeless people.
That started with two central city buildings targeting people with mental illnesses: the 24-unit Prairie Apartments, which opened in 2008 at 1218 W. Highland Ave., and the 38-unit Capuchin Apartments, which opened in 2011 at 2502 W. Tamarack St.
In 2014, Heartland opened its third Milwaukee development: the 37unit Maskani Place, 320 E. Center St. It focuses on homeless families with young children.
In all three projects, Heartland worked with local nonprofit groups such as Guest House of Milwaukee, Capuchin Community Services, Community Advocates and the Salvation Army.
St. Anthony’s is being developed in a partnership with Capuchin Community Services, which operates a community meal program at the neighboring St. Benedict the Moor Parish, 924 W. State St.
The development will include a gathering place for people to warm up on cold days while waiting for the meal program to open, said Brother Rob Roemer, Capuchin Community Services ministry director. There also will be laundry machines and showers for them to use, he said.
JusticePoint, a local social justice organization, will help apartment residents obtain mental health counseling and other services.
Also, the county House of Corrections Day Reporting Center, which provides an alternative to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, will relocate to the building from 3732 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Finally, the apartment building will include the new home for Ascension St. Ben’s Clinic. That clinic, which serves poor people, is now at the neighboring church.
The clinic is a nod to the five-story building’s roots. It was built in 1931 as St. Anthony’s Hospital, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
St. Anthony’s Apartments won praise from Mayor Tom Barrett, County Executive Chris Abele and Wyman Winston, executive director of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.
The authority, county and city, along with local foundations, private lenders, investors and individual donors, all played a role in supporting or financing the development.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place in St. Benedict the Moor’s sanctuary. Barrett told the audience that Heartland Housing was “taking the principles of Christianity to the streets of Milwaukee.”
Plans for school
Meanwhile, Heartland’s plans for the former 37th Street School drew support from zoning committee members during the City Hall hearing. Ald. Russell Stamper II, whose district includes the site, noted the project was proceeding after a two-year wait.
That delay was caused by a now-lapsed state law that required that vacant Milwaukee Public Schools buildings be sold only to “educational operators” — mainly Milwaukee Parental Choice voucher schools.
Heartland would create around 50 senior apartments in the school building and around 10 townhouses for families that would be built behind the school.
The plans include creating community space in the former gymnasium, as well as a community garden. Heartland’s development partner is Community First, a neighborhood improvement organization.
The school’s historic features would be restored with cash from state and federal historic preservation tax credits. Heartland also is seeking affordable housing tax credits, which are provided through an annual competition.
There are concerns those credits could be cut back to help pay for lower tax rates proposed by Republican Congressional leaders, said Andrew Geer, a vice president at Enterprise Community Partners Inc., which helps developers sell tax credits to investors.
The initial framework for tax code changes calls for preserving the tax credits, which have bipartisan support, said Geer, whose organization worked on the St. Anthony’s development.
“But we can’t take that for granted,” he said.