Dane County Executive Parisi Announces County Funding for Affordable Housing
March 09, 2017
Stephanie Miller 608-267-8823
County Executive
Today Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced Dane County will be allocating $1 million for the Tree Lane affordable housing project in partnership with the city of Madison. The project, located at 7933 Tree Lane in the City of Madison, costs approximately $11.7 million. The City of Madison is contributing $1,615,000 toward these costs. Construction is expected to commence this spring. The building will include 19 two-bedroom units, 23 three-bedroom units and 3 four-bedroom units. Residents will also be offered supportive services at the site. A resolution approving the funding will be introduced tonight at the Dane County Board.
“We must continue to create more affordable housing in Dane County,” said Dane County Executive Parisi. “One of the consequences of the tremendous growth and private sector job creation in our community has been a lack of affordable housing. I would like to thank the city of Madison for leadership on this project.”
Dane County has partnered with the City of Madison to support the expansion of affordable housing in the community. The City of Madison issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify a qualified developer for a supportive housing facility to serve families in the City of Madison. The City selected Heartland Development of Chicago, Illinois, to complete the project. Heartland made application to the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) and was awarded a portion of the supportive housing tax credits available. Since that time, Heartland has completed the project development details and secured a tax credit investor to fund the project.
“Tree Lane is a critical element in our commitment to provide affordable family housing,” said Madison Mayor Paul Soglin. “ The Tree Lane project is another step in meeting our goal of 800 new units.”
Dane County has been working to create more affordable housing through many partnerships and through the Dane County Affordable Housing Development fund which allocates $2 million each year for four years. The purpose of the fund is to encourage the development of affordable housing in Dane County by using money from the fund to leverage additional funds.
This fund is one example of the County’s work on Affordable Housing. In 2015 the County teamed up with the City of Madison, Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, Heartland Housing, Heartland Health Outreach, U.S. Bank, BMO Harris, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, the Home Depot Foundation, and Enterprise Community Partners to fund a permanent supportive housing unit on Rethke avenue focused on chronic homelessness, including homeless veterans.
Located at 715 Rethke Avenue in Madison the $8.9 million, 60-unit building provides housing for individuals who are chronically homeless, with a unique focus on veterans, for whom 25 of the units are designated. Rethke is designed to serve those who would not be able to stay housed without a wide range of supportive services and who, conversely, need to be housed to be able to fully participate in these services.