Milwaukee Affordable Housing Awarded $46 Million

Milwaukee affordable housing contractor Travaux Inc. received $46 million in contracts from the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) on Oct. 13., which secured funding for renovations of the Townhomes at Carver Park, and two construction phases at the Westlawn Gardens community.

Westlawn Gardens is an income-driven urban development in Milwaukee near West Silver Spring Drive and North 62nd St. The contracts funded construction for multi-use buildings, apartments and townhomes. Some are affordable housing units, and some are market rate, but all are part of a mixed-income community that has access to city services, schools, community centers and public spaces.

The Townhomes at Carver Park is also an income-driven community in Milwaukee near West Brown St. and North 8th St. The rehabilitation plan is needed to modernize the interiors of affordable housing units, and to attract higher-income families to the property’s market-rate units.

Interrupted supply chains, market fluctuations and staff shortages impacted the availability of building supplies in the U.S. construction industry, and Warren Jones, vice president of construction at Travaux Inc., said that shortages and slow manufacturing impacted their strategy.

“The window suppliers are eight to 12 weeks out. Hopefully, we have done enough planning and preparation that we have gotten that in line with our schedule,” Jones said. “Right now, the roofing insulation that has been specified is eight to 10 months out.”

The building materials are delayed, or unavailable, and substitution building materials were considered.

“We are looking at alternative types of insulation and roofing materials that will still meet the specifications, but are more readily available,” Jones said. “It’s not just roofing, but it’s a number of items and products like that.”

The Townhomes at Carver Park and two construction phases at Westlawn Gardens is a significant amount of added work, and amid staff shortages, Travaux Inc. needed to fill positions to get the construction done on time.

“I believe there is a plan to get the proper staff hired, whether it’s a temporary staff, whether it’s a permanent staff,” Jones said.

The Westlawn Gardens construction phases named Renaissance VII and V were funded with these contracts, but those won’t start until the rehabilitation at the Townhomes at Carver Park is nearly completed.

Travaux Inc. is a subsidiary of HACM, and Dr. Susan Lloyd, who is a HACM board commissioner, wanted more information about decisions made for starting the Townhomes at Carver Park rehabilitation before finishing the last phases of construction at Westlawn Gardens.

“I would love to be educated on the rationale for the sequence of events, and the timing of the events more generally,” Lloyd said. “What is the rationale for taking on all three projects now?”

In 2015, HACM received a $30 million Choice Neighborhood Implementation grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which was allocated to support the Westlawn Gardens community and surrounding neighborhood. Fernando Aniban, chief financial officer at HACM, said that using this $30 million now is part of an agreement to start construction on the final phases of Westlawn Gardens before the end of the HUD grant period.

“There is a commitment for us to start construction before Sept. 2022,” Aniban said. “That’s basically driving us to make sure we have this project closed, and we have financing lined up before that.”

The Townhomes at Carver Park construction is part of a rehabilitation preservation that WHEDA awarded a Housing Tax Credit to in 2021. When the rehabilitation is completed, some of the resources will flow back to HACM, which will help finish Westlawn Gardens.

“There is an inflow of recourses or cost at the end of the project, when it’s done and completed, back to the Housing Authority,” Aniban said. “Which we intend to use to fill in the gap on the two projects that we have on Westlawn.”

Townhomes at Carver Park

The $5.3 million contract awarded to Travaux provided funding to get the Townhomes at Carver Park rehabilitation started. Aniban said that most of the work is indoors.

“We are changing from carpet to new vinyl flooring, new cabinetry, an upgrade to bathrooms, painting, some refurbishing of the doors and windows,” Aniban said. “And then change the HVAC system of the buildings.”

Westlawn Gardens Construction Phase VII

Westlawn Renaissance phase VII had $29.9 million awarded toward 32 buildings with 97 homes at West Sheridan Ave. and North 68th St., and a three-story building with 18 rental units at West Sheridan Ave. and North 60th St.

Westlawn Gardens Construction Phase V

Westlawn Renaissance phase V had $10.8 million awarded toward it to build a three-story building with 44 apartments and a community service facility at West Sheridan Ave. and North 64th St. Twenty of those apartments were designated to support young adults who aged out of foster care.

Westlawn Gardens Community

The Westlawn Gardens community is part of Milwaukee’s Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI), which is focused on forming sustainable communities with schools, businesses and city services on the northwest side of Milwaukee.

Contractors at Travaux Inc. are ready to get started, and Jones said he thinks they developed a strategy to ensure assets and labor are secured to finish all three developments on time.

“We’ve looked at the scope of work, we’ve been instrumental in creating it, we understand what’s required,” Jones said. “We have built a good repour, and a cadre of contractors that are interested in this work.”