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Community Updates, News Stories, Best Practices, Resources, and other data supporting the development of affordable housing for the citizens of Wisconsin in every city and region in the State. Please consider partnering with us and sharing your story

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Ken Notes: We have become the haves and have-nots regarding housing, with those working full time making a "living wage" often no longer able to enter the housing market as owners. Developers and builders have discovered that the margins are better in rentals or higher priced homes for purchase. Communities have allowed this and even zoned to codify this development.

President Donald Trump ‘s plans for bringing homeownership within reach of more Americans involve pushing for lower interest rates on home loans and credit cards, and banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes.

In his address Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump outlined four policies his administration is pursuing in a bid to make homeownership more affordable. Each had been previously mentioned by him or his administration in recent weeks, part of a broader push to address affordability generally, a hot-button issue with voters heading into the midterms...

...In his remarks, Trump stressed the need to lower interest rates on home loans and credit cards in order to give aspiring homebuyers more financial flexibility to save up for a down payment on a home and more purchasing power when it comes time to buy...

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Leo`s notes: pushing mortgage rates lower, capping credit card interest, and restricting large institutional investors from buying single-family homes — reflect a growing bipartisan recognition that affordability is now a structural economic problem, not a cyclical one. While lower rates may help at the margins and curbing investor competition could ease pressure in select markets, these measures alone won’t resolve a housing shortage built over a decade of underproduction. The moment underscores a central truth: affordability requires aligning finance, land use, and construction at scale, not relying on any single lever to fix a deeply constrained market.

Ken Notes: Imagine an administration focused on affordable housing, lower interest and tax rates for the 30 or so million who provide retail and service labor making $16 to $22 per hour...

MADISON, Wis. — City leaders gathered in the Owl Creek neighborhood to celebrate a new set of permanently affordable twin homes, marking progress in Madison`s push to build more "missing middle" housing like duplexes and townhomes.

The city sold the land to the Madison Area Community Land Trust for just $1 and tapped its affordable housing fund to transform empty lots into homes designed for first-time homebuyers.

"We need folks to be able to buy a home and to be able to create generational wealth through the appreciating value of that home, but we really need people to be able to buy that first home," said Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.

For new homeowner Ariel Christian, the program made homeownership possible after years of renting. "After learning about MACLT and the generous down payment assistance from the city, we could actually buy a house and build equity. It`s incredible," Christian said.

The new homeowners moved into their properties just after Christmas, calling it the best gift after eight years of renting in Madison. The twin homes provide an opportunity for working families to build equity and establish roots in the community...

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Leo`s notes: Madison’s Owl Creek project is a reminder that solving the housing crisis isn’t only about building more units — it’s about building the right kinds of homes. By turning vacant city-owned lots into permanently affordable duplex-style homes, the city and the MACLT are creating real pathways to first-time home-ownership, equity-building, and long-term neighborhood stability.

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Leo’s notes: By focusing on “missing middle” homes that teachers, nurses, first responders, and young families can actually afford, the city is addressing the quiet crisis facing many rural communities: without attainable housing, employers can’t recruit, families can’t stay, and towns slowly hollow out. While the financing will require creativity and public-private partnership, the payoff is bigger than rooftops—it’s about sustaining Peshtigo’s workforce, strengthening its tax base, and ensuring the city remains a place where the next generation can live, work, and belong.

St. John’s Lutheran Church has sat on a downtown corner of Madison, Wisconsin — just three blocks from the state Capitol — for nearly 170 years.

But its leaders are now working to demolish it.

“St. John’s has always been a place focused on refuge, serving the poor, and meeting people where they are,” the church’s pastor, Rev. Peter Beeson, said in a fundraising video.

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Leo’s notes: By choosing to replace underused space with 110 affordable homes, the congregation is responding directly to today’s most urgent need: safe, stable housing for working families and neighbors priced out of their own communities. As housing costs continue to outpace wages, projects like this show how mission-driven institutions can unlock land, align values with action, and help turn compassion into concrete solutions.

A small lakeside city sandwiched between Chicago and Milwaukee has quietly become the most in-demand housing market in the US.

Kenosha, Wisconsin, rose to the top of Realtor.com`s December hottest housing markets list — a ranking that signals buyer demand has become so intense it has turned the market into the most competitive in the country at the end of last year.

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Ken Notes: Still the median listing price of $384,000 is high but there were a few under 250K. The proximity to Milwaukee, Racine and Chicago, mass transit, Lake Michigan, and new computer data centers coming online soon make the city very attractive.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBank Chicago) is addressing housing affordability with the launch of its 2026 Downpayment Plus (DPP^®) and Downpayment Plus Advantage^® (DPP Advantage^®) grant programs. $28 million will be made available through these programs to help income-eligible homebuyers across Illinois and Wisconsin overcome one of the most significant barriers to homeownership: saving for a down payment.

This announcement comes as housing affordability remains a challenge for many households, with rising costs and limited inventory creating obstacles for first-time and low-to-moderate income buyers.

Through partnerships with member financial institutions, FHLBank Chicago’s DPP and DPP Advantage programs offer forgivable grants to homebuyers earning up to 80% of the area median income. Eligible households may receive up to $10,000 in assistance, which is applied at closing...

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Leo`s notes: For many working families across Wisconsin and Illinois, the barrier to homeownership isn’t monthly payments so much as the upfront cash required to get in the door. In a tight housing market with limited supply, pairing new construction with smart, targeted tools like these is exactly how communities turn aspiration into opportunity and renters into long-term stakeholders.

A Wisconsin-based nonprofit hospice, Agrace, is launching a new memory care initiative that includes a village for residents inspired by the Hogeweyk model in The Netherlands.

The hospice and palliative care provider recently announced the project, which will be dubbed as the Ellen & Peter Johnson Dementia Village at Agrace. Fueled with the Johnsons’ donation of $7 million, construction of the new dementia village will begin in spring 2026 and is slated to complete by fall 2027.

The village will be the first of its kind to launch in the United States. The initiative has been several years in the making as Agrace worked to identify demand, as well as gaps in memory care needs and resources. They also had to develop a care model that would address these issues, said President and CEO Lynne Sexten. The new dementia village’s aim is two-fold: to improve both quality and caregiver support, Sexten indicated...

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Leo’s notes: As Wisconsin grapples with aging demographics and health care staffing shortages, this initiative shows how innovative housing models can simultaneously improve quality of life, reduce caregiver burnout, and strengthen the long-term care workforce—an approach worth watching well beyond the memory care world.

Ken Notes: Read this article. What a great design for any housing project! Wisconsin has looked for ideas from in this case the Netherlands, wouldn`t it be refreshing if we explored the world for housing solutions that actually work elsewhere! We applaud this project...

Madison, WI — Senator Jeff Smith (D–Brunswick) and Representative Jodi Emerson (D–Eau Claire) introduced comprehensive legislation to strengthen protections for residents of manufactured home communities and preserve one of Wisconsin’s last remaining sources of truly affordable housing.

“For many residents, especially seniors and retirees on fixed incomes, manufactured home communities are their only affordable housing option,” said Senator Smith. “Without protections, these individuals are forced to choose between unaffordable rent hikes or losing their homes entirely.”

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Leo’s notes: Manufactured home communities are one of Wisconsin’s last truly affordable housing options, especially for seniors and residents on fixed incomes—and new legislation aims to protect them before it’s too late. The proposal would curb predatory practices by large investors, limit excessive rent hikes, strengthen oversight, and give residents a real chance to purchase their communities when they come up for sale. This bill recognizes a hard truth: preserving affordability isn’t just about building new housing, it’s about protecting the housing we already have and the people who depend on it.

Ken Notes: I see an uphill battle here. I wish that communities could do more to control the new ownership of these facilities. The properties are being sold as cash cows to investors and looking at the numbers they are...

The first residents have moved into Aurora Place, Washburn’s 40-unit affordable housing development that drew interest from more than 200 households desperate for quality rental options in the region.

Twenty units are complete at the 803 Superior Avenue development, with 15 already occupied as of late December and the remaining five filling by month’s end, according to Nicole Solheim, Senior Vice President of Development for Cinnaire Solutions, a nonprofit community development financial organization that partnered on the project.

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Leo’s notes: Drawing interest from more than 200 households for just 40 homes, Aurora Place shows that workforce and senior housing isn’t a niche need—it’s foundational infrastructure. When communities invest in housing that allows seniors to age in place and working families to stay local, they strengthen health, stabilize the workforce, and free up existing homes for the next generation. Projects like this don’t just add units; they add resilience to the entire region.

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity announced Thursday that it is joining the Pope Leo Village initiative, a multi-city project sponsored and inspired by an anonymous donor committed to Pope Leo’s vision and lifelong call to serve others.

Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity is one of 16 Habitat for Humanity affiliates nationwide participating in the initiative.

According to Habitat for Humanity, Milwaukee’s Pope Leo Village initiative will help sponsor the construction of seven affordable homes in the Bronzeville and Harambee neighborhoods in 2026 and 2027, with construction beginning in summer 2026...

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Leo’s notes: Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity’s participation in the Pope Leo Village initiative is a reminder that expanding homeownership isn’t just about bricks and budgets—it’s about community commitment. At a moment when too many working families are priced out, collaborative efforts like these show how shared responsibility and hands-on service can turn affordability from an abstract goal into real keys in real hands.

The 30th annual Souper Bowl, a beloved Madison tradition since 1995, will be held Saturday, Feb. 7, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. at Madison West High School to help build affordable housing throughout Dane County.

Hosted by the UW–Madison student chapter of Habitat for Humanity of Dane County, Souper Bowl has grown into the organization’s largest fundraiser, drawing more than 750 attendees and serving over 200 gallons of soup last year alone...

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Leo`s notes: Across Wisconsin and the Midwest, the affordable housing story is no longer about isolated projects—it’s about scale, speed, and systems that work. The lesson is clear: affordability doesn’t come from a single tool, but from stacking smart financing, flexible land use, and long-term partnerships that treat housing as essential infrastructure for economic stability and community health.

KENOSHA, Wis. — February in Wisconsin is anything but hot, except when you are talking about the housing market.

According to data from Realtor.com, several Wisconsin cities rank among the top 20 hottest housing markets in the country, including Wausau, Appleton, Milwaukee, Janesville and Oshkosh.

Kenosha takes the top spot, ranked as Realtor.com’s Hottest Metro in the United States.

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ENABLING BETTER PLACES: A USER’S GUIDE TO WISCONSIN NEIGHBORHOOD AFFORDABILITY	WHEDA’s Rural Affordable Workforce Housing Initiative	Wisconsin REALTORS® Association
WISCAP Affordable Housing Network	Division of Energy, Housing and Community Resources	Housing Authority City of Milwaukee (HACM)
Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp	WEDA Legislative Tracker	NRA Housing Needs By State / Wisconsin
Wisconsin Housing Alliance	Office of Rural Prosperity Wisconsin Economic Development

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Nate Notes: to be included as a Workforce Housing resource email us a link and a brief note to: wwhnews.com@gmail.com...

Housing experts and advocates convened at Pew to discuss the promise and challenge of converting office space to small co-living units

In most of the United States, individuals who work full time for minimum wage can’t afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment. And buying a condo or house is out of the question even for many higher on the income scale.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of square feet of building space sit vacant and unused in the heart of our cities—prime real estate, near jobs, highways, and public transportation.

Office buildings.

That paradox animated an October gathering of housing experts and policymakers at the Washington offices of The Pew Charitable Trusts called “Reimagining America’s Empty Offices.” The meeting built on a series of reports from Pew and the global architecture and design firm Gensler that explored a novel way to transform vacant office space into housing...

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Leo`s notes: Converting office buildings into low-cost, co-living housing isn’t a radical idea. With construction costs far lower than traditional conversions and rents that working people can actually afford, office-to-housing reuse offers cities a chance to revive downtowns while meeting urgent human needs. The real barriers aren’t demand or design — they’re outdated zoning rules, financing hesitation, and political caution. If we are serious about affordability, we must stop treating empty offices as symbols of past prosperity and start treating them as the housing opportunity hiding in plain sight.

Ken Notes: We are not sure if this is a winning solution, but we are sure that what we are doing now is not working. We need smaller, shared amenities, co-branded with existing or new projects, adaptive reuse, access to health resources, safe living environments, and other outside the box thinking.

Within the federal funding package that nearly derailed in the U.S. Senate is $12.5 million to fund projects mostly related to transportation, housing and urban development across northeastern Wisconsin for the 2026 fiscal year.

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Leo’s notes: Tucked inside the latest federal funding package is a reminder that housing and infrastructure aren’t abstract policy debates—they’re local, tangible investments. While Washington drama nearly sidelined the package, the underlying need is clear: strategic federal dollars, paired with local leadership, remain a critical tool for addressing housing shortages, supporting workforce growth, and keeping small and mid-sized communities competitive and thriving.

Baldwin Secures Over $32 Million in Direct Support for 26 Projects in Southeast Wisconsin in Government Funding Bill

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Leo’s notes: The investments highlighted here go beyond bricks and mortar, pairing housing with job training, health care, and community services that help families put down roots. For communities grappling with rising costs and tight supply, this approach reflects a pragmatic path forward—one that treats workforce housing not as a niche program, but as essential economic infrastructure.

Wisconsin REALTORS® Association Releases December 2025 Real Estate Report

Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin REALTORS® Association released its December 2025 Real Estate Report today, showing Wisconsin’s housing market closed 2025 with moderate growth. December existing home sales rose 4.4% year over year, with the median price increasing 2.5% to $312,750. For the full year, sales were 2% higher than in 2024, and the median price rose 4.8% to $325,000. Wisconsin remained in a strong seller’s market, as new listings were down 5.9% and months of supply fell to 3.3%. To reach a balanced market, total listings would need to increase 107%. Every region saw annual growth in sales and price, led by the North region. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell about 0.5%, supporting a 1.5% rise in the Wisconsin Affordability Index.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE...

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Leo’s notes: By expanding TIF district assistance beyond deeply affordable housing to include workforce units, the city is signaling a pragmatic shift: growing Milwaukee means not only building more housing, but building the right kinds of homes in the right places to keep the city livable, inclusive, and economically resilient.

MADISON, WI – The Wisconsin State Assembly held its first session of 2026 [Tuesday] and passed a series of resolutions and bills, including a proposal by State Rep. Dave Armstrong (R-Rice Lake) to update the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program (LIHTC).

“LIHTC is an important tool for encouraging investment in low-to-moderate-income housing, which Wisconsin desperately needs, in rural areas as well as big cities,” Representative Armstrong explained. “Today’s bill, Assembly Bill 182, requires the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) to set aside at least 35% of its annual LIHTC allocations for qualified projects in rural areas.  Current law does require WHEDA to give preference to projects in ‘smaller communities’, but the definition it uses covers cities like Green Bay, Kenosha, Racine, and Appleton – not what most people think of when they think ‘smaller’, unless you live in Milwaukee or Madison!  AB 182, on the other hand, makes sure truly small, rural towns aren’t overlooked.”...

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New county program focuses on rehabilitation, preservation

Dane County will award $3,926,399 in funding through a unique new program focused on preserving existing units of affordable housing across Dane County, Dane County Executive Melissa Agard announced in a Friday, Jan. 9 news release.

It’s the fund’s first-ever round of awards, anticipated to preserve and/or rehabilitate 65 units of housing in the communities of Fitchburg, Stoughton, and Madison, and create four new units of affordable housing in the Village of Waunakee...

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The Brief:

• A Middleton architect is converting a vacant Lodi school into 50 senior living units and 62 additional housing units
  
  
• The former school has been empty since 2017 due to structural issues and hazardous materials
  
  
• The project addresses a critical housing shortage in southern Wisconsin, particularly for seniors

LODI, Wis. — A Middleton architect with a passion for small-town Wisconsin is breathing new life into a historic Lodi property that has sat vacant for nearly a decade.

Steve Shulfer, a partner at Sketchworks Architecture in Middleton, is transforming the former Lodi school into "Primary Terrace," a mixed-use development that will provide much-needed housing for the community. The project includes 50 units of independent senior living, 13 townhome condominiums, and 49 apartment units.

The school has been empty since 2017 due to structural issues and hazardous materials, leaving the historic property in desperate need of renovation. Shulfer`s connection to Lodi runs deep, spanning 25 years of recreational visits to the area...

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Ken Notes: A good deal of this plan has little if any chance of real support but an entity focused on housing makes some sense. What we really need is a bipartisan advocacy group of developers, cities and towns, builders, banks and others to advocate for building truly affordable homes and neighborhoods.

DeForest Community Development Authority Awarded $150,000 State Grant to Advance Redevelopment Project

DeForest, WI — The Community Development Authority (CDA) of the Village of DeForest has been awarded a $150,000 Site Assessment Grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to support environmental assessment and site clearance activities for a redevelopment project in downtown DeForest.

The grant, awarded through WEDC’s Site Assessment Grant (SAG) Program, will fund environmental site investigations, demolition, asbestos abatement, and related assessment work at property located at the corner of Highway V and Main Street. These activities are a critical early step in preparing the site for construction of Yahara Crossing, a CDA-led mixed-use affordable housing development. 

Yahara Crossing is planned as a three-story, mixed-use development featuring 62 apartments and approximately 4,500 square feet of first-floor commercial space, along with underground parking, community space for residents, and rooftop solar infrastructure.    ...Full Story Here

Leo’s notes: Strategic investments like this—focused on reuse of underutilized land, mixed-use development, and long-term affordability—show how local leadership and state partnership can turn planning goals into real housing opportunities that strengthen both downtowns and communities.

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) - Habitat for Humanity of the Greater La Crosse Region ranked top 5 nationally in Habitat for Humanity and Novelis’ annual can aluminum recycling program.

The achievement comes after the organization surpassed its 2024 collections by collecting 8,900 pounds of aluminum last year, nearly seven times the 1,300 pounds collected in 2024.

“We had 8,900 pounds of aluminum that we collected, using can recycling at our different can cages,” says Habitat for Humanity of the Greater La Crosse Region sustainability coordinator Stefanie Kline.

Almost half of the aluminum came from Habitat’s ReClaim Program, which collects and removes materials from buildings undergoing renovation....

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WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - The Wausau Common Council discussed the city’s growing elderly population and housing challenges during a meeting Tuesday night, reviewing a 2025 report on senior living from the North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

The city is facing a shortage of housing with accommodations for seniors, according to the report presented to the council.

“If they were to need a wheelchair or walker to make the doors wider. To be able to have things more easily accessible to them, to reach or to be able to access within their apartment,” said Director Mike Rhea with the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin...   ...Full Story Here

After years on hold, two long-approved Walker’s Point apartment projects could finally move forward this spring — if a key piece of city financing falls into place...

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Leo’s notes: If city support comes together this spring, these projects could finally turn years of paper progress into real housing, adding momentum to one of Milwaukee’s most supply-constrained neighborhoods. It’s a reminder that closing funding gaps, especially for urban infill, is often the difference between a housing plan that sits on a shelf and one that actually delivers homes where people want—and need—to live.

“The vacancy for apartments is still under 1%, which is not a healthy rate,” said Drew Pennington, the economic development director for the City of Beloit. “So there’s a lot of demand there.”

That’s why city leaders made sure an affordable housing project that was once in jeopardy will move forward. The four-story, 55-unit building is set to take over the former site of the YMCA on Riverside Drive. Construction is expected to start in the spring.

The project was initially chosen by the city to receive $3 million in funding back in 2024. It also received some additional funding from Rock County and tax credits from the state of Wisconsin. 

What You Need To Know

• A four-story, 55-unit affordable apartment building is set to take over the former site of the YMCA on Riverside Drive


• Construction is expected to start in the spring


• The project was initially chosen by the city to receive $3 million in funding back in 2024; But with rising costs, developers were still short on funding to complete the project


• Beloit City Council members voted to approve $1.6 million in additional funding

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Leo’s notes: Beloit’s decision to step in with additional local funding to keep a 55-unit affordable apartment project alive is a clear signal of how urgent the housing shortage has become. This project, aimed at households earning 30–80% of the county median income and paired with on-site supportive services, reflects a growing recognition that affordable housing is core infrastructure: essential to workforce stability, family well-being, and the long-term economic health of the community.

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A downtown Milwaukee parking lot has seen hotel proposals come and go for 40 years, but the city now believes a different type of development might finally stick — if the neighborhood can support it.

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Leo`s notes: With housing costs rising and workforce shortages tightening, residential development — especially mixed-income and workforce housing — may finally align market reality with community need. If Milwaukee wants long-vacant sites to move from paper concepts to poured foundations, prioritizing housing over aspirational but fragile hotel deals could be the shift that makes progress stick.

Across Wisconsin many employees can simply not afford to live where they work.

This is true in big cities and small rural communities. Both the availability and price of housing is not in line with the needs of those working in jobs that are vital to the success of our communities. Imagine a firefighter, teacher, city employee, service, or retail worker not able to afford a home in the community they serve.

We believe Wisconsin employers will support these efforts so they can successfully recruit workers to fill the thousands of job openings now hampered by a shortage of affordable housing.


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WWHNEWS Notes: To add a resource or correct above send data and link to wwhnews.com[at]gmail.com...