$11.5 Million Affordable Housing Project Needs Land: Report

OAK CREEK, WI -- An $11.5 million affordable apartment complex pitched for Howell Ave. needs a key Milwaukee County parcel in order to proceed, according to the developer

Developer MVAH Holding wants to develop Howell Avenue Lofts, a 48-unit apartment complex is proposed for two parcels of land at 7266 and 7328 S. Howell Ave.

According to Oak Creek plan commission documents, Howell Avenue Lofts will consist of 48 apartment units in three stories. Of the total, 38 units would have two bedrooms, and 10 units would have three bedrooms.

According to a JSOnline report this week, Oak Creek's zoning rules only allow for 23 apartments on the 2-acre site. Now the developer wants to buy an adjacent 4.4-acre parcel, and County officials said they'd sell it for $1. By adding the new parcel MVAH Holding can add more units and qualify for a raft of tax credits.

Plan commission documents from late 2018 indicate that the details of the complex are still in flux on account of a number of revisions that need to be made in order to comply with local land-use ordinances.

According to plan commission documents in late 2019, plans for Howell Avenue Lofts needed to be revised so that the buildings take up no more than half of the lot area, and that the garage structures aren't built closer to Howell Ave. than the apartments themselves.

Rendering via Oak Creek plan commission documents.