Large affordable housing development seeks $9M from city of Milwaukee

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Milwaukee plans to grant $9.2 million through a tax increment district to Kenosha-based Bear Development to build more than 500 affordable apartments in the city’s Harbor District.

The developer wants to demolish the former Filer and Stowell industrial building between 123 and 147 E. Becher St. and build eight apartment buildings, officials from the City of Milwaukee Department of City Development said. The project is valued at around $197 million.

Dubbed “The Flats and Senior Living at Cream City Yards,” the redevelopment will have 432 family units and 144 elderly units and a mix of one- and two- bedroom units with some affordable housing, DCD officials said. Some apartments will be set aside for people who make between 40-80% of the area median income, officials added.

The Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee will meet about Tax Increment District No. 117 on Aug. 17, a meeting agenda showed.

The project will be located between West Becher Street and West Lincoln Avenue at South 1st Street.

City officials said the development was in line with the Harbor District Water and Land Use Plan, and advanced its goals to support transforming former industrial sites into a wider mix of uses.

Bear has nearly doubled the number of apartments it wants to build since it made its first presentation in 2020. Originally, the developer wanted to build more than 300 units. That year, developers predicted a project to maintain the structure would bring in around 250 construction jobs.

In 2022, city officials approved allocating $835,000 to the developer through the Housing Trust Fund. The action had to be approved by the Milwaukee Common Council.

Bear Development has built around Milwaukee since 1986 and developed more than 3,000 housing units, DCD officials said. Some of Bear’s recent projects include the conversion of the Historic Button Block Building into Homewood Suites on Water Street, the adaptive reuse of an office building into 700 Lofts on North James Lovell Street and West Michigan Avenue in downtown Milwaukee and the Michigan Commons project on North 9th Street and West Michigan Avenue.

The Harbor District, the industrial waterfront of Milwaukee’s south side, has hosted separate developments, including the River One apartments and offices, Wheel and Sprocket and the Milwaukee Urban Stables.

The Filer and Stowell complex, built in 1890, contains an office, four-story lofts and shop sheds, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society. The complex is currently owned by the Beta-Becher Acquisition Co., located in Kenosha.