Construction date set for Deer District affordable apartments

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By TOM DAYKIN

USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

Construction is about to start on a 269-unit Deer District affordable apartment development, featuring a new Milwaukee Area Technical College athletic facility, after overcoming delays.

Fieldhouse Flats is coming to a block bordered by West Juneau, West McKinley and North Phillips avenues and North King Drive.

Work will begin the week of April 6 after the developers closed on their financing package on March 30, said Michael Belot, Milwaukee Bucks senior vice president of business operations and chief real estate development officer.

The $117 million development is being done by the Bucks and J. Jeffers & Co.

Its financing includes $6.8 million provided through a tax incremental financing district. That district, using Fieldhouse Flats’ property tax revenue, was approved last fall by the Common Council and Mayor Cavalier Johnson.

In return, the apartments − ranging from studios to two-bedroom units − will have below-market rents for people earning 50% to 80% of Milwaukee County’s median income. Those income and rent levels are set annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Fieldhouse Flats was originally planned as market rate apartments. The developers switched course after running into financing issues tied to inflated construction costs and higher interest rates.

With the change, the average monthly rent will initially be $1,059, Jeffers told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. That compared to $2,189 when Fieldhouse Flats was planned as a market rate development, he said.

The apartments have the same designs, finishes, and amenities as initially planned, Jeffers said.

The MATC facility will be completed by July 2027, Jeffers said. He said the first 60 apartments will be ready by fall 2027, with the remaining units completed by March 2028.

Meanwhile, Jeffers hopes to close in June on financing to convert the historic Mitchell Building, 207 E. Michigan St., from offices into 60 apartments.

The development’s financing includes $1.9 million provided through a new tax incremental financing district.