Madison workers paid $75K in unpaid wage claims

Workers who filed construction liens and unpaid wage claims totaling $75,331 for their work on a Madison housing project last year have been made whole, a lawyer representing the workers said.

On March 10, a group of construction workers marched and held picket signs in front of the City-County Building in downtown Madison ahead of a Common Council meeting. They were raising awareness around unpaid wages after 13 construction workers said they weren’t paid for subcontractor work at The Intersect, a five-story apartment building at 808 Melvin Court.

The project will create around 192 affordable apartments, supported by low-income housing tax credits and tax incremental financing from the city. It’s expected to be completed in May 2026.

Kenosha-based Bear Development, the developer that led The Intersect project, last week settled claims totaling $38,500 for nine of the workers, said David Robles, an attorney representing the 13 workers. Four workers were covered by lien claims totaling $36,831, court records showed.

The workers were hired by subcontractor Texas-based Raramuri Construction LLC.

In March 2024, the Madison Common Council approved funding for a $1.7 million tax incremental financing loan to East Washington Apts, LLC, an affiliate of Bear, to build around 192 affordable apartments and 139 parking stalls in the 3100 block of East Washington Avenue.
The loan filled a gap for the total project cost of more than $68.4 million, a city memo showed.

All units will be affordable with rents restricted to 50% to 70% of the area median income. It is primarily funded with low-income housing tax credits, tax exempt bonds approved by WHEDA and tax incremental financing, wrote Nick Orthmann, a project manager for Bear Development, to Madison officials in 2023.

Worker Justice Wisconsin, a nonprofit that supports workers seeking fair wages and collective bargaining, helped organize the action and held a press conference at the Madison municipal building on March 10 after workers said they weren’t paid.
The Common Council that day considered TIF dollars for another developer looking to buy land.

“The argument we’re putting forth is, this is something that took place with taxpayer dollars,” said David Ortiz-Whittingham, a construction organizer at WJW. “The city, the people and public deserve to know about it. The city councilors need to know about it, because when they’re making decisions to give out public financing, it should be done in a way that makes sure this never happens again.”

Madison is ramping up housing construction as housing demand outpaces new supply and land and construction costs continue to rise. More than 22,400 homes of all types were completed in Madison between 2015 and 2024, a 20% increase in the city’s total number of homes, according to the city’s 2025 Housing Snapshot Report.

Responding to a letter from the Wisconsin Responsible Contracting Coalition, Bear Development shared a formal response with the media. S.R. Mills, the CEO of Bear Development, said WRCC made allegations against the company without evidence or contacting Bear beforehand.

“Bear and (Construction Management Associates) have constructed over 4,000 units of quality, affordable housing across Wisconsin and other states over the last 15 years, and we have been in business for over 100 years,” Mills said in a statement. “We operate safe job sites; we carry Workers’ Compensation Insurance — as required by law — and we have never engaged in wage theft.”

Mills said that Bear provided documentation of workers’ compensation insurance coverage to Robles. He said the company doesn’t have a direct relationship with Raramuri Construction.

This story will be updated.