RACINE — Racine and city partners celebrated the completion of several new townhomes Thursday aimed at making homeownership achievable for residents in the city's Lincoln-King neighborhood.
The townhomes are expected to be priced under $250,000 and are part of a more than $100 million investment in the area. They sit next to a new community center and health clinic, also in progress.
Mayor Cory Mason said the city is focused on keeping costs within reach.
"We're trying to make it as affordable as possible," Mason said.
The city says homeowner applications should be available in the coming weeks, and all 33 townhomes should be completed by the end of the year.
For some neighbors, the changes have been welcome. Jajuan Muhammad Jr., who lives across the street from some of the new townhomes, reflected on what the neighborhood once looked like.
"It was a lot more gloomy, a lot more gloomy," Muhammad said.
Muhammad said he supports the direction the redevelopment is heading.
"I think it's cool that they're building something bigger for the Martin Luther King center, making it something bigger for the community, and building these new homes for people that want to be closer to either the Martin Luther King center or any of the schools," Muhammad said.
But not everyone shares the same enthusiasm.
"I like the old way it was," said neighbor Marcus Brown.
Brown, who also lives across from townhomes being built, said the area holds deep personal meaning for him.
"It's a good area. The king center's right there. My family grew up here. It's home," Brown said.
Brown said he has concerns about what the new development could bring.
"All these houses put together, it's going to be more traffic," Brown said.
Some residents who live in the neighborhood but did not want to speak on camera told TMJ4's Lauren Sklba they have questions and concerns about the potential impact of the redevelopment, including fears of eventually being priced out or made to feel unwelcome in their own neighborhood.
When asked how current residents can remain rooted as the neighborhood changes, Mason outlined the city's approach.
"What we need for all this is sort of an all-of-the-above strategy around housing, right? So part of it is enhancing homeownership with new housing units, part of it is doing home repairs with people who are already in the neighborhood," Mason said.
The city has rehabilitated eight homes in the neighborhood, and there are home repair financing options available.
"We want to lift everybody in this neighborhood up," Mason said. "There might be new people moving in, but it's also really intended to make sure that for the people who are here, that's increasing their generational wealth as homeowners, and it's improving the safety of their neighborhoods by making these investments."
Mason said the city also plans to reach out to families in the area who might be interested in homeownership.
For Brown, he said he hopes his new neighbors bring positivity to the area.
"You gotta be optimistic about it. They're right across the street from us," Brown said.
The city anticipates construction on the new community center and health clinic to be completed in early 2027.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
