LaMarr Franklin, a stalwart of Milwaukee’s north side whose name now crowns a major affordable housing project on King Drive, died yesterday at 80. His decades of neighborhood work stretched from mentoring young people to helping steer economic development efforts on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The LaMarr Franklin Lofts - a roughly $16 million development at the corner of King Drive and Dr. William Finlayson Street - now stand as a permanent, brick-and-mortar reminder of the community he spent a lifetime building.
Franklin helped launch the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation, founded the Milwaukee chapter of the Black Achievers program in 1973, and served for around 40 years on the board of Northcott Neighborhood House, where he pushed for youth and family services. He also organized Milwaukee’s first Garfield Festival and was a Vietnam veteran who stayed active in community affairs into his late 70s. Those details and reactions from family and colleagues were collected by TMJ4.
LaMarr Franklin Lofts anchor King Drive
The LaMarr Franklin Lofts opened last fall as part of a recent wave of development in Harambee, combining market-rate and affordable apartments with street-level commercial space. The project - led by KG Development Group and the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation - cost about $16–17 million and includes 55 units, with 46 designated as affordable and rents that started as low as $469 a month, and it accepted Section 8 vouchers. Those project details were reported by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, while coverage in Urban Milwaukee noted that the building opened fully leased and immediately started a waiting list.
Community reaction
“Lamar Franklin, Mac Weddle, Ben Johnson… those are champions,” Frank Cumberbatch, vice president of engagement at Bader Philanthropies, said as neighbors took stock of the loss. Franklin’s nephew, Lester Julien, told friends and reporters he wants his uncle remembered for his hard work and commitment to the community, and longtime friend Mac Weddle was with Franklin when he passed. Those comments and on-the-ground reactions were documented by TMJ4.
What it means for Harambee
The lofts are part of a cluster of projects that are expected to add more than 200 apartments to the King Drive corridor by the end of 2026, many of them designated as affordable under tax-increment financing and local housing initiatives. City leaders have pointed to developments like this and the MLK library apartments as pieces of a broader push - Mayor Cavalier Johnson has dubbed 2026 the “Year of Housing” - meant to stabilize neighborhoods that have long struggled with vacancy and disinvestment. Reporting on those neighborhood trends appeared in coverage by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Legacy in brick and mortar
For residents who knew him, Franklin’s legacy will be less about ceremonies and more about the roof over a family’s head or a kid steered toward college - outcomes organizers say the new lofts are meant to support. Local reporting noted the high demand and waiting list at the building’s opening, as reported by Urban Milwaukee.
