Parkwest Townhouses

Summary: New Covenant Housing Corporation, Inc., sponsored this two-phase $7.9 million development in a Milwaukee inner-city neighborhood.

Rents for the 72 new homes -- a mix of townhouses and apartments -- range from market rate to rates affordable to households with incomes at 30% of area median.

Wisconsin Partnership's role: Development consultant

Staff contact: Michael Heidkamp

Status of work: Phase I completed in 1994, Phase II in 1999

New Covenant Housing Corporation, a nonprofit development affiliate of New Covenant Baptist Church, built the Parkwest Townhouses to address the lack of affordable "family-sized" housing in its central Milwaukee neighborhood. Additional goals for the project were to rebuild neighborhood confidence after decades of economic disinvestment and to make productive use of several blocks of vacant land cleared in the 1960s for a freeway that was never built.

Project buildings are designed to complement the surrounding architecture, and each unit has an attached garage. Some of the townhouses have family rooms or partially finished basement space to provide elbow room for family living. Additional family-friendly features include in-unit laundry facilities and above-average size. The 48 townhouses have 1.5 bathrooms. Green space, play areas, a community building and an on-site office are part of the development. New Covenant Housing Corporation now manages the property.

As development consultant the Wisconsin Partnership assisted with project planning and feasibility analysis and coordinated the two-phase development plan. The Partnership also assembled the financing for both phases, which included federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, public and private grant funds, and debt financing. A tax incremental financing district was formed to provide public improvements to the site.