Wisconsin officials announced that affordable housing developers will soon receive $32.4 million to help fill financing gaps caused by rising construction costs, interest rate increases, and supply chain delays.
“Affordable housing is essential to the safety, health, and well-being of our kids and families, workers, and communities,” said Gov. Tony Evers. “That’s why I am glad to announce today that we are also providing another $5 million toward this grant program to help bring these projects to fruition and increase the number of units available statewide for the folks and families who need them.”
In April, he announced that $20 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding would be made available to developers to help fill shortages in capital sources needed for multifamily housing projects that received federal or state housing tax credits in 2020 or 2021.
During the application process, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) received grant requests totaling more than $38 million from developers, underscoring the need for assistance to complete these much-needed housing developments, said officials.
In addition to the $5 million in added ARPA funds, WHEDA is committing another $7.4 million using its federal allocation of National Housing Trust funds, bringing the total funding available to $32.4 million and supporting 85% of the total requested project funding.
In total, 22 developments in 11 counties will provide nearly 1,200 new affordable housing units, not only in urban settings but also in rural communities that struggle to provide housing for working families, according to the agency. A complete list of projects and locations is available here.
“Wisconsin’s need for safe, affordable housing has grown, so we also chose not to limit the awards to the ARPA funds,” said Elmer Moore Jr., WHEDA CEO and executive director. “We thank Gov. Evers for the additional commitment. Like him, we are listening to our stakeholders about their challenges and leveraging our resources to help fund more housing projects.”
