Wisconsin leaders tour Milwaukee complex, search for ways to tackle housing crisis as Affordable Housing Week begins
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- With tall ceilings, in-unit laundry, large windows, and new floors, the 39-unit building on N. 21st St. in Milwaukee offers tenants a place to live on the city's north side.
Called the McKinley School Lofts, the complex is a renovated school that now offers spacious, but most importantly, affordable, apartments.
“It immediately goes from that school feeling to feeling like a home," said Dan Hereth, the secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS).
Hereth was joined by other state leaders like Sen. LaTonya Johnson and Elmer Moore Jr., the CEO and executive director for the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), to tour the lofts Monday morning, to kick off Affordable Housing Week.
“Regardless of if you’re in central Wisconsin or western Wisconsin or right here in Milwaukee, every community has affordable housing challenges," Hereth said. “Are there things that we can do within the building code to make these projects more affordable without sacrificing safety?"
Experts said they were searching for ways to expand facilities like the lofts across the state.
“We’re not producing enough new housing on the homeownership opportunity side, but also on the multi-family rental side. We’re also not making housing that people can afford," Moore Jr. said. “What this project shows is that we can be creative, we can be industrious, and in fact we can be innovative to create many beautiful housings that people can afford."
Moore Jr. added that he was impressed by the quality of the building's conversion and the amenities the space offered to tenants without the pricey cost.
“What we’re really going to dig into is that triangulation of how do we offer housing that is comfortable and safe and affordable, while also making sure that we’re not overengineering things to make it impossible to build," Moore Jr. said. “This is a really beautiful example of what can be done when we align resources and passion.”
Leaders will continue touring different spaces and discussing ways to tackle the housing crisis through the week.