Twenty families now call a stretch of North Greenfield Avenue in Waukesha home, after years of construction turned a blighted, dumped-on factory lot into a full neighborhood of affordable houses. Habitat for Humanity Waukesha-Jefferson-Rock marked the completion of the Domenica Park subdivision with a block party on Aug. 20, drawing more than 75 local leaders, volunteers and neighbors to the site at 506 N. Greenfield Ave.
The celebration capped a project that began construction in the summer of 2022 on the former Aeroshade Company factory site, which had sat vacant and subject to frequent dumping, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Domenica Park now includes 16 single-family homes and two duplex townhomes, serving 20 income-qualifying families, most of whom are first-time homeowners. More than 1,000 people contributed labor or support to get the project across the finish line, per the same report.
Meet Some of the New Homeowners
Among the residents celebrating is Lucinda Saenz, a single mother who moved into her Domenica Park home in March with three of her children. “I could not ask for anything more,” Saenz said, expressing her gratitude, the Journal Sentinel reports. Nearby, business owner Maria Sigala moved in the same month and has since planted a garden with sunflowers, a peach tree and pumpkins — despite hurting her arm in May. “My neighbors were a blessing,” Sigala said.
The Rooney family, a household of seven that includes Marine Corps veteran Jonathan Rooney and health care worker Cassandra Rooney, also settled into the new subdivision. Beth Moltzan, who spoke to the outlet about the project's broader impact, said the development “lifts the whole neighborhood.” Hadfield Elementary School sits just a block north of the site, and the homes are steps from the Waukesha bike trail, according to the paper's reporting.
From Scattered Infill Lots to a Full Subdivision
Before Domenica Park, Habitat for Humanity of Waukesha County had built just 45 homes over 33 years, working piecemeal on scattered infill lots between existing houses. Domenica Park marked the affiliate's first full-scale subdivision development, transforming its operational capacity, according to Waukesha County Technical College. The nonprofit acquired the 3.77-acre parcel in August 2022 with assistance from developer Jim Tarantino of Tarantino & Company, more than five years after the century-old Aeroshade plant was demolished in 2017, as reported by Delzer.
Students in WCTC's Building Trades-Carpentry program built at least one home per year at the site as part of a multi-year educational partnership launched in fall 2022, giving them hands-on construction experience while adding to the subdivision's housing stock. The project wasn't without setbacks: shortly after construction began, thieves stole tools from the site, but the theft triggered nearly $70,000 in community donations to replace equipment and improve site security, according to reporting compiled by Johnson Financial Group.
Public Money and Private Partnerships Funded the Build
The City of Waukesha contributed $1 million in ARPA funding toward Domenica Park, and Pro Healthcare donated three lots in the city's Tower Hill neighborhood, per the Journal Sentinel. The project also drew on a mix of philanthropy, special mortgage products, and discounted or donated labor and materials. In August 2025, the Waukesha Redevelopment Authority approved a streamlined construction loan capped at $600,000 from the city's Affordable Housing Development Fund, consolidating what had previously been six separate loan approvals for individual builds, according to city records.
To qualify, a family of four in Waukesha County must earn between a minimum of $33,000 and a maximum of $76,800 in gross annual income. Homeowners also complete volunteer hours known as sweat equity and take part in homeowner training and certifications through Las Casa de Esperanza. Habitat guarantees that monthly mortgage payments won't exceed 30% of a homeowner's income at signing — consistent with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development's own definition of affordable housing as costing no more than 30% of gross income.
Waukesha's Housing Squeeze Makes the Case
The completion of Domenica Park lands amid a housing market that has priced out many working families across Waukesha County. The median home listing price in the county reached $579,900 in June, up 6.35% year-over-year, while median rents stood at $2,015 a month, according to Realtor.com. A statewide housing affordability index tracked by Forward Analytics turned negative in 2024, meaning median-earning households in counties like Waukesha can no longer afford median-priced homes given rising prices and elevated mortgage rates, as Hoodline previously reported.
A Template for Regional Expansion
Domenica Park's success helped Habitat Waukesha expand into Jefferson County in late 2023 and later into Rock County, prompting the organization to rename itself Habitat for Humanity Waukesha-Jefferson-Rock, according to WisBusiness. Building on the multi-home master-plan model pioneered in Waukesha, the affiliate secured $500,000 in federal Congressionally Directed Spending in February for its 12-home College Park workforce housing development in Watertown, WisPolitics reports.
Just this month, Forward Janesville's Forward Foundation donated downtown land to the affiliate to build three homes in Rock County, timed to an August and September build week called Acts of Courage that honors military veterans who serve as shift captains. Habitat Waukesha says it plans to pursue similar subdivision-style projects in other communities, using Domenica Park as its proof of concept for turning blighted urban land into lasting homeownership.
