Construction crews broke ground Wednesday on a $2.95 million townhome development that will bring 10 new owner-occupied homes to three long-vacant, city-owned parcels near South 21st Street and West Greenfield Avenue on Milwaukee's near south side. The project, led by VIA Community Development Corp., targets first-time homebuyers earning at or below 80% of the area median income, with homes expected to sell for about $125,000 apiece.
The first phase will add four townhomes at South 21st Street and West Greenfield Avenue, while a second phase will bring six more townhomes at South 23rd Street and West Greenfield Avenue, according to BizTimes Milwaukee. Together the two phases will create 10 homes spread across the Clarke Square and Muskego Way neighborhoods. Each unit will measure 1,330 square feet with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an unfinished basement, and the townhome design was chosen specifically because it allows construction on smaller urban infill lots.
From Vacant Lots to Vacant Lots No More
The three parcels being redeveloped once held a mixed-use building with apartments, a pharmacy, a tavern and Mr. D's Pizza. The city of Milwaukee acquired the land through tax foreclosure in 2010 and demolished the remaining buildings in 2019, according to city records cited in the project's coverage. The site has sat empty since, a familiar pattern on a near south side where vacant, foreclosed parcels have long been targeted for redevelopment.
Joanna Bautch, who grew up a few blocks from the project site, spoke at Wednesday's groundbreaking ceremony held at the South 21st Street location. State Rep. Jocasta Zamarripa also attended, calling the investment significant for one of the most economically challenged areas of her district and saying the project will help families move into their first homes in the neighborhood.
A Growing Nonprofit With Deep South Side Roots
VIA CDC was founded in 1995 and develops affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization projects across Milwaukee's south side. The organization began as Layton Boulevard West Neighbors under the School Sisters of Saint Francis before rebranding in 2020, and it expanded its service area into the Clarke Square neighborhood last August by absorbing the community outreach and programming of the former Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative, according to the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.
The nonprofit established its Turnkey Program in 2008 to renovate foreclosed properties for owner-occupants, and it renovated and sold 33 homes through that program between 2008 and 2023. In 2023, the program shifted its focus to new construction, and VIA CDC has since developed 20 homes on the near south side and in the Washington Park neighborhood between 2024 and 2025.
Part of a Larger Push for Educator Housing
The South 21st Street project is also tied to a broader early childhood educator homeownership initiative that VIA CDC began in 2023 as part of a LISC Milwaukee and Community Development Alliance effort. That citywide initiative aims to construct more than 40 entry-level homes for early childhood educators priced between $105,000 and $125,000, according to Urban Milwaukee. VIA CDC expects to build 20 homes through that initiative between 2024 and 2026, and the developer plans to replicate the townhome model at additional sites as redevelopment opportunities become available.
Financing for the South 21st Street project came from a mix of public and private sources, including the city of Milwaukee, LISC Milwaukee, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Northwestern Mutual, Tri City National Bank and UnidosUS.
Why the Price Point Matters on the South Side
The Muskego Way neighborhood, one of two areas set to gain new homes, is 75.9% Hispanic or Latino compared with 20.7% citywide, and a high share of its households carry housing cost burdens as renters, according to a 2021 report from Data You Can Use. Median home values there reached $158,283 as of June, up 8.8% year over year, according to Zillow data — meaning VIA CDC's roughly $125,000 townhomes offer a meaningfully below-market entry point for local buyers.
The disparity the project aims to address runs deeper than price alone. A July 2022 report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum found Milwaukee ranked last among 11 peer U.S. cities for racial equity in homeownership, with a 26.9 percentage point gap between White households, at 55.8% owner-occupancy, and Black or Hispanic households, at 25.2% and 38.5% respectively. Out-of-state investors, meanwhile, owned more than 7,000 single-family homes in Milwaukee as of late 2023 — a 50% increase since 2017 and a 476% surge since 2005 — further shrinking the pool of entry-level homes available to local families.
The city has leaned on programs like its $15 million Homes MKE initiative, launched in April 2023 with federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to rehabilitate up to 150 tax-foreclosed vacant homes across 23 neighborhoods, as part of a broader 2018 municipal goal to create or improve 10,000 affordable housing units within a decade. Nonprofit developers like VIA CDC have become key partners in carrying out that infill strategy on vacant, city-owned land.
Other affordable housing efforts are moving forward nearby along the same corridor. In June, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority awarded tax credits to fund 709 affordable units across eight Milwaukee developments as part of a statewide $2,128-unit allocation. And along Greenfield Avenue, developers of the 140-unit Kin at Freshwater apartment project at 200 E. Greenfield Ave. secured $2 million in city tax incremental financing in 2024 along with state housing trust funds to push construction toward completion by late this year, according to The Daily Reporter.
