Wisconsin

Gorman & Company Begins 7th Phase of Milwaukee Northside Housing Initiative

Tax Credit Advisor, January 2015

In early October Gorman & Company broke ground in Milwaukee on the 7th phase of its nationally-acclaimed scattered site, single family home redevelopment.

Gorman & Company’s Northside Housing Initiative is a partnership with the City of Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA). Its goal is to resuscitate challenged neighborhoods that have been devastated by the foreclosure crisis. Foreclosed, boarded-up properties are rehabbed into high-quality rental housing. In addition, newly constructed homes are built on vacant lots that residents consider the “broken teeth” of their neighborhood.

This innovated housing initiative also focuses on training  chronically unemployed people from the affected zip codes. The City of Milwaukee offers critical support for the project by assembling the individual properties and contributing them to the initiative.

Grocery store, affordable housing in the works for east Madison’s Union Corners

BRYNA GODAR | The Capital Times | bgodar@madison.com

After months of planning and repeated delays, pieces of Gorman & Co.’s Union Corners project are starting to fall into place.

The project combines a UW Health Clinic, affordable housing and retail on the vacant two-block site along East Washington Avenue, Milwaukee Street and Winnebago Street.

The city approved the medical clinic in early October and the City Council allocated tentative funding for the residential piece in early December. The developer has mentioned potential grocery tenants in neighborhood meetings on the project.

Although the final residential plans have yet to be approved, the developer has proposed two mixed-use buildings, consisting primarily of affordable housing.

In December, the City Council approved the allocation of up to $3 million to assist Union Corners along with two other affordable housing projects: Maple Grove Commons and Tennyson Ridge. All three will be applying for tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority and pre-determined city assistance can aid in that process. The final dollar amounts will be worked out in January.

The Union Corners project will include a total of 90 units, 14 going at market rate and 76 marked as affordable with a range of one to three bedrooms. The majority of the affordable units will target those making 60 percent or less of the area median income, with some targeting those making 20 percent or less.

There will be underground parking and retail on the ground floor of each building, which front Winnebago Street.

Gorman & Co. has also said it is working to bring a grocery store to the development, possibly Fresh Thyme Farmers Market.

The overall project and its components have drawn mixed reactions and desires from the neighbors, including conversations about what “affordable” means and what the buildings will look like.

A second neighborhood meeting on the project will take place Thursday, Jan. 8, 5 p.m. at the Goodman Community Center. The Gorman & Co. team will discuss updates on the proposed building design and the WHEDA application for tax credits.

The construction dates for the project have repeatedly been pushed back and groundbreaking on the residential component is now slated for January 2016 if financing goes through.

Forest Home Library Replacement Decided, Mill Road Deferred

By Michael Horne, Urban Milwaukee, Dec 18, 2014

The Forest Home branch of the Milwaukee Public Library would move to a historic building, according to a vote by the Board of Trustees of the Milwaukee Public Library on Wednesday, December 17th.

The winning proposal by Gorman & Co / Mitchell Investment Properties VJS Construction calls for replacing the Forest Home branch library with a location in the historic Hill building at 930 W. Mitchell St.

The alternative plan under consideration, advanced by Cardinal Capital Group / Journey House, called for new construction on S. Cesar Chavez Drive. That proposal drew considerable community support at a public hearing held by the library’s Building Committee at the Forest Home Library on Tuesday, December 2nd.

However, it had many more moving parts than the relatively straightforward Mitchell Street proposal.

The Cardinal Capital / Journey House plan called for the demolition of an existing dental office building on the busy shopping street and replacing it with the library and coffee shop at the street level. In addition, it called for the development of subsidized housing above as well as rather inexplicit investments in properties in the immediate neighborhood. The proposal had the support of Ald. Jose Perez, whose district encompasses both of the proposed locations.

The Gorman proposal offered a nearly move-in-ready building, market rate apartments, and Historic Tax Credits.

The Gorman plan, too, has a number of parts, but they are well greased. The Historic Tax Credit program has proven to be a most effective lubricant when you’re fracking for capital.

But you need a historic building first to mine this golden egg, and a demolished Dental Associates clinic would not fit the bill.

The building committee, when it earlier considered the proposals, did not meet a resolution of the matter, and it came before the full board, although both proposals had been declared dead by some reports.

The 12 member library board is chaired by John Gurda, who took time after the meeting (writing from the library) to share these comments with Urban Milwaukee readers about the board’s decision:

“… We approved Gorman & Co’s. proposal to replace the Forest Home branch with a new library on the first floor of the Hill Building and market-rate apartments above. Simply put, there’s a lot to like about the project. The Hill Building has great bones, and it’s on the National Register, with ample dedicated parking and a prominent location on Mitchell Street, the South Side’s downtown since the late 1800s. The building is also literally across the street from one of the largest parochial grade schools (St. Anthony’s) in the country, and the use of historic preservation tax credits will enable us to get more library for our money. When you put it all together, this is going to be a genuinely catalytic project that will bring Third Ward-caliber energy to the heart of the South Side.”

Brooke VandeBerg, the Communications and Marketing Director for the library, said the board also made these conclusions about the Gorman proposal:

The Gorman project:

•​Has now clearly defined the second use for the development with market rate housing, which is complementary to a library and a catalytic project for the area.

•​Is proposed for a location (930 W. Mitchell St.) that is central to the service area, in a prominent business district and allows for parking when using the facility

•The project can move expeditiously and be completed within a short time frame. The library and apartments can be developed simultaneously; and,

•The developer has a secure funding strategy and will pursue Historic Tax Credits for the entire project. ​

 

The board made the right decision, in my opinion. The Journey House proposal helped put the urgency of redevelopment of S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. in the forefront, as has the Urban Placemaking initiatives of Newaukee, including an artist-in-residence for the street. But the project it proposed for the site seemed to have too many variables, imponderables and contingent pieces.

But put together, they demonstrate the need for investment in that commercial corridor. Perhaps just not in a project anchored by a library branch.

The Gorman proposal will provide an anchor for the Mitchell Street commercial district, which, at its heyday, was as vital as any in the nation.

The library board also expressed guarded interest in a proposal for the redevelopment of the Mill Road branch.

According to VandeBerg:

Motion was made and adopted to express interest in the proposed concept presented by Maures Development/Common Bond/Engberg Anderson developer team for the redevelopment of Mill Road library at 7717 W. Good Hope Rd. Before a final decision is made the Board directed staff to:

•​Seek more input about the suggested second use through community meetings hosted by local Aldermen;

•Ensure that the city-owned parcel (7717 W. Good Hope Rd.) is viable for both a library and housing as a second use.

•Review the results of a developer’s market study and environmental study for the feasibility of both affordable housing and market rate housing on the site, and review the 2008 Department of City Development Northwest Side Area Plan.

•Meet with local Aldermen and report to the Board on the findings.

One Other Matter to be Decided:

It occurs to me we are going to have two branch libraries in desperate need of new names, since neither will be located on its eponymous thoroughfare in the future.

“Good Hope Library” might be a good fit, especially since it has a rather uplifting lilt to it.

“Mitchell Street Branch” does have a certain authority to it, as well. But there may be other than street name choices available.

This might be a good community involvement project. Or, perhaps we could monetize it.

Is the city ready to sell naming rights for public buildings? Here might be the chance! How about La Biblioteca El Rey. Come up with something better, if you can.

Apartments, library recommended for south side building

By Tom Daykin of the Journal Sentinel, Dec. 17, 2014

A south side building would be redeveloped into a Milwaukee library branch and 33 apartments under a proposal recommended Tuesday night by city officials.

The Forest Home Library, at 1432 W. Forest Home Ave., would be replaced by a new library branch on the street level of an underused four-story building at 906-910 W. Historic Mitchell St.

That $10.4 million project, proposed by a partnership of development firm Gorman & Co., property owner Mitchell Investment Properties and construction manager VJS Construction Services Inc., would include market-rate apartments on the renovated building’s upper floors, and 96-space parking lot.

The Milwaukee Public Library’s Board of Trustees selected the Gorman proposal over a competing proposal from Cardinal Capital Management Inc. and Journey House to develop a library, 51 units of affordable housing and additional commercial space within a new four-story building at 1135 S. Cesar Chavez Drive.

The trustees selected the Gorman proposal because its market-rate apartments complement the library and would create a catalytic project for the neighborhood, said Brooke VandeBerg,  library communications and marketing director.

The Mitchell St. location is central to the library’s service area, within a prominent business district, VandeBerg said.

Also, the project can be completed within a short time frame, and the developers have a secure financing strategy, including the use of state and federal historic preservation tax credits, she said.

The 80,000-square-foot building, built in 1919 as the Hills Department Store, is only about 30% leased, said John Kesselman, the property’s listing agent.

The building has had difficulties finding tenants since United Migrant Opportunity Services Inc. moved its headquarters to 2701 S. Chase St. around 10 years ago.

A board committee last week declined to recommend either the Gorman or Cardinal Capital proposal due to concerns about financing, and a lack of details. The Gorman proposal initially included affordable apartments, which would have needed additional tax credits for financing the project.

The board on Tuesday night also expressed interest in another proposal recommended by that committee: to replace the Mill Road Library, at 6431 N. 76th St., with a four-story structure to be built on a city-owned lot at 7717 W. Good Hope Road.

A partnership of Milwaukee-based Maures Development Group LLC, St. Paul, Minn.-based CommonBond Communities Inc., and Milwaukee-based Engberg Anderson Inc. would develop a library, 46 affordable apartments on the upper levels, potential street-level commercial space, on-site parking and outdoor green space, according to the conceptual plans.

Before making a final decision, the board wants more information on the Maures proposal, including a review of the developer’s market study, VandeBerg said.

Both projects also would require Common Council approval.

From Foreclosures, Affordable Housing

Affordable Housing Finance, 2014 LIHTC Yearbook

A Wisconsin developer’s large-scale initiative in neighborhoods on Milwaukee’s North Side is helping reverse the damage of the Great Recession and foreclosure crisis.  By purchasing vacant lots and foreclosed homes from the city, Gorman & Co. has aided in neighborhood revitalization, homeownership opportunities, and job creation.

Over the course of seven phases, the developer built or rehabbed 282 single-family homes or duplexes affordable to residents earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income.

“All of those homes that we redeveloped within the neighborhoods are in a high demand because people in this day and age really find it hard to own a home but want the space of a home to raise a family,” says Ted Matkom, Wisconsin market president for Gorman & Co.

Gorman refurbished the homes, many of which date back to the early 1900s, with modern amenities, appliances and security systems.  “You literally get a new home, in a sense, when you move in,” Matkom says.

After the 15-year compliance period, residents living within the single-family homes will have the opportunity to purchase them for the remaining debt, which is projected to be approximately $35,000.

The acquisition and rehabilitation work also has provided a needed jobs boost in the city.  Gorman partnered with nonprofit Northcott Neighborhood House to create a training program for chronically unemployed local residents with challenged backgrounds.  Through the program, men and women were trained to do construction trade work and demolition work.

Low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) were vital to the developer’s work.  The $56.6 million initiative was financed with $44.1 million in LIHTC equity.  Additional financing included Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds from the city of Milwaukee.

“The LIHTC program really makes the housing sustainable for years to come,” says Matkom.  “And it really revitalizes the housing stock with minimal subsidy.”

Developer Helps to Transform Milwaukee Neighborhoods

By Christine Serlin, Affordable Housing Finance

A Wisconsin developer’s large-scale initiative in neighborhoods on Milwaukee’s North Side is helping to reverse the damage of the Great Recession and foreclosure crisis.

By purchasing vacant lots and foreclosed homes from the city, Gorman & Co.’s work is resulting in neighborhood revitalization, homeownership opportunities, and job creation.

Over the course of seven phases, the developer built or rehabbed 282 single-family homes or duplexes affordable to residents earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income.

“All of those homes that we redeveloped within the neighborhoods are in high demand because people in this day and age really find it hard to own a home but want the space of a home to raise a family,” says Ted Matkom, Wisconsin market president for Gorman & Co.

Gorman refurbished the homes, many of which date back to the early 1900s, with modern amenities, appliances, and security systems. “You literally get a new home in a sense when you move in,” Matkom says.

After the 15-year compliance period, residents living within the single-family homes will have the opportunity to purchase those homes for the remaining debt, which is projected to be approximately $35,000.

Residents must sign a contract of care, which promises that they will maintain the home with ordinary upkeep, such as mowing the grass, shoveling snow from the walkways, and doing minor repairs. This helps to instill homeownership responsibilities in the residents and helps to reduce Gorman’s operating costs since it’s a scattered-site project over a three-mile diameter, says Matkom.

The acquisition and rehabilitation work also has provided a needed jobs boost in the city. Gorman partnered with nonprofit Northcott Neighborhood House to create a training program for chronically unemployed local residents with challenged backgrounds. Men and women were trained to do construction trade work and demolition work.

Low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) were vital to the developer’s work. The $56.6 million seven-phase initiative was financed with $44.1 million in LIHTC equity provided by Alliant Capital, Boston Capital, and National Equity Fund. Additional financing included Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds from the city of Milwaukee.

“The LIHTC program really makes the housing sustainable for years to come,” says Matkom. “And it really revitalizes the housing stock with minimal subsidy.”