MILWAUKEE — A long-planned effort to build 94 affordable homes on vacant lots in Milwaukee’s Amani neighborhood is moving forward after the Common Council unanimously approved $3.6 million in tax-incremental financing for the project.
The 15-0 vote closes what project leaders describe as the final major funding gap. The city’s investment joins previously announced state tax credits, private financing, philanthropic support and fundraising.
“This is really the final piece of funding,” said Frank Martinez, deputy director of the Community Development Alliance. “It’s a big piece that will allow these homes to be built.”
The project is intended to create 94 eventual homeownership opportunities, although the homes will not all begin as owner-occupied.
Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity will build 50 homes for first-time buyers. Emem Group will build 40 homes that will initially operate as rentals before offering tenants a path to purchase them. The other four homes are expected to come through Community Crossroads and Ezekiel Hope, with some of the properties using the Milwaukee Community Land Trust model.
Watch: ‘This project started with the residents’: 94 affordable homes moving forward in Amani
Project leaders say Amani residents have been involved from the beginning through organizations including Amani United and the Dominican Center.
Residents helped identify developers, discuss where the homes should go and offer input on what they should look like. Amani United also canvassed the neighborhood, while the Dominican Center regularly hosted planning meetings.
“This project started with the residents,” Martinez said. “Amani has a really dedicated ... group of residents who advocate for themselves and know that this neighborhood ... sometimes has been overlooked and really deserves better.”
Martinez said building on vacant lots is also meant to limit displacement.
“What was an empty lot ... maybe a nuisance is going to be a homeowner, a taxpayer, a neighbor,” he said.
The project will also use affordability restrictions and shared-equity models intended to keep the homes within reach of future buyers if an original homeowner eventually decides to sell.
Habitat for Humanity expects to build homes ranging from approximately 1,000 to 1,500 square feet. Plans include single-story ranch homes and three- or four-bedroom, two-story homes that will be matched with buyers based on family size.
Brian Sonderman, CEO of Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, estimates the homes will have an average sale price of about $150,000. The final price will depend on each home’s appraised value.
“We think right now about an average of $150,000,” Sonderman said. “The average monthly payment for a typical Milwaukee family would be about $900.”
That payment estimate depends on the mortgage products and down-payment assistance available to each buyer.
Habitat’s program is intended for first-time homebuyers. Participants will receive financial education and mortgage preparation, work alongside volunteers to help build their homes and receive support after they move in.
“We want people to be successful long term, not just hand the keys over,” Sonderman said. “We want to walk with families through this entire process.”
Habitat plans to conduct intentional outreach to people already renting in Amani. Sonderman said residents who already live, work, and send their children to school nearby could make strong long-term homeowners.
Habitat also requires owner occupancy. If an owner later wants to sell, Habitat has the right to make the first offer, allowing the homeowner to build equity while helping keep the property affordable for the next buyer.
Foundations for the first Habitat homes could go into the ground this fall. Sonderman said it generally takes about nine months from the start of framing until a home is completed and a family moves in.
Emem Group will build 40 of the homes. CEO Michael Emem said each house will cost approximately $365,000 to build, but that is not what residents will pay.
The homes are expected to rent for approximately $1,000 to $1,100 a month. Emem said the company is working to secure additional financing that could lower those rents.
After 15 years, each home is expected to be offered for sale for $100,000 to the tenant living there at the time. Emem said the purchase price will include money to address needed repairs and updates so the property is still in good condition when ownership changes hands.
The company plans to close on the transaction by the end of 2026. The first families could move in by late spring or early summer 2027, with additional homes becoming available through the end of that year.
Emem Group also plans to establish a residency preference and work with Habitat to offer homebuyer counseling before the 15-year rental period ends.
“The whole mission behind this is not to displace anyone and provide opportunities for the people who are currently living in the community before we bring new people into the community,” Emem said.
For Emem, a Milwaukee developer with roots in the community, the project is also personal.
“Being able to ... build new quality, affordable housing in the community where I have roots, and in a community that so desperately needs this housing product—that’s the ultimate joy for me,” he said.
Dana Williamson has owned her Amani home for nearly nine years. She welcomes the investment but says residents will be watching closely to see who ultimately benefits.
“I think what people are looking at is who are going in those homes,” Williamson said. “That is going to be vital.”
Williamson said residents should continue to have a seat at the table as applications open and construction moves forward.
“Include them, let them know that they can come in and ask questions and give their insights,” she said. “Make the residents feel like not only are their voices being heard, but some of the things that they are suggesting are also being implemented.”
She also wants people outside Amani to understand that residents already take pride in their homes and blocks.
“It’s not just the hood, location-wise, it’s a neighborhood,” Williamson said. “This is how we live.”
Williamson hopes the new construction can restore some of the stability Amani had when the neighborhood was filled with more homeowners and nearby employers.
“Yes, you can own a home here and live here and thrive here,” she said.
Habitat also plans to offer a critical home-repair program for existing Amani homeowners, including seniors living on fixed incomes.
The program could help with needs such as roof repairs and accessibility improvements. Sonderman said the goal is to help current homeowners remain in their homes safely and affordably as new development arrives.
Habitat has not built new homes in Amani in roughly 14 years, although the organization says it already has about 60 Habitat homeowners in the neighborhood.
I plan to continue following this project through the first concrete pour.
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