Wisconsin Redevelopment Inc. received another financial boost to its efforts to redevelop the old Weyco building last week when it was announced it received a $549,966 loan from WHEDA.
Wisconsin Redevelopment, in partnership with Impact Seven, plans on constructing 34 units of loft-style housing, each of which is expected to have 2,000-square feet with two or three bedrooms, high ceilings and storage. In some units, there will be balconies with views of the lake and river. The ground floor, meanwhile, would be utilized for parking, and developers have been vocal about their intentions of preserving public access to the river.
Wisconsin Redevelopment’s Todd Hutchison has recently added that the boiler room will be redeveloped into a two-story community room, which could be utilized by local organizations and as a commons area for tenants.
Earlier in the year, developers received the WHEDA low-income housing tax credits crucial to the project’s financing, at $667,000 a year for 10 years. Wisconsin Redevelopment also earned a $1.7 million Community Block Grant from the Department of Commerce.
“This is one of the greatest communities we have had pleasure of operating with,” Hutchison said. “There has been a lot of cooperation between the city, the council, the Beaver Dam Area Development Corporation, the DNR, historic tax credits, WHEDA and the department of commerce. All of these different agencies have been working together and each one has a little piece that is necessary to make a difficult project work, especially in this financial climate. It’s really refreshing.”
More than $100 million in American Recover and Reinvestment Act funding for affordable housing, in the form of loans and grants, were awarded to 36 developments across the state.
“This first round of ARRA funds will not only help renovate existing and create new affordable housing for Wisconsin residents, it will put people to work, creating over 2,000 jobs,” WHEDA Executive Director Antonio Riley said.
WHEDA is an independent state authority that works with lenders to provide low-cost financing for housing and small business development in Wisconsin.
dbaulch@ capitalnewspapers.com