Development Philosophy

The Wisconsin Partnership's development philosophy is a set of guiding principles that we strive to exemplify in our housing production work. Those principles and the ways we work toward them are summarized as follows:

Housing should help people build assets. Building assets is a central value in our culture. Earning enough money to cover expenses and still have something left over is the key to financial security and opportunity. When housing costs so much that it consumes a large proportion of people’s income, it stands in the way of the opportunity for a better life. Home ownership is the most common way for residents to share in the value that housing represents. But we can also develop rental housing affordable enough that people can save more of their income.

Housing should create value. “Value” means getting the most for our money. Spending too much for housing—for any of us—doesn’t create value. To help as many people as possible, housing producers must use resources wisely. That means building housing that’s smarter, not cheaper. Housing can be designed to cost less and use fewer resources during construction or over time. Housing can also be designed so that it can be upgraded or expanded more easily and less expensively than building new.

Housing should build community. Lower-income people and people with different abilities are often isolated from the community around them, and too often their housing reinforces their isolation. We develop mixed-income housing or affordable housing in mixed-income neighborhoods, and we offer housing options for people with a range of abilities and needs. We design and build quality affordable housing that fits into its surroundings and is an asset to the community.

Housing should protect the environment for future generations. Housing should be developed in ways that consume fewer resources, avoid sprawl and preserve ecologically sensitive land. That means using recycled materials, materials produced in ways that minimize damage to the environment, or design and construction techniques that minimize waste. It also means planning projects based on Smart Growth principles, on infill sites in developed communities or in newly developing areas in Urban Services Districts.

Housing should be part of economic development. Employers need affordable housing as much as their employees do. Job recruitment and retention require an adequate housing supply, and affordable housing keeps local businesses competitive. Employers can provide working capital to increase the effectiveness of nonprofit developers that have affordability as their mission. They can also provide down payment assistance to their employees. Finally, they can use their influence in the community to support development projects that need more flexible zoning and subdivision standards to promote affordability.

Housing should meet the test of the market. Developers of affordable housing use subsidy funds to reduce the cost of the housing to the residents, but they must also risk significant amounts of capital in bringing projects to completion. Developers of affordable housing can only continue in business if the housing they produce is viable in the marketplace. We view affordable housing development as a business enterprise in which we are compensated for the risk of investing our capital in housing production. We build housing for a range of incomes, so the location, quality and price of our projects must be attractive to people who have many housing choices and needs.