Milwaukee Housing Authority's luxury apartment project competes with private developers

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Government's unfair housing foray
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“Solving disparities in housing in the city of Milwaukee is entirely appropriate and a good thing to do,” says Blair Williams, president of WiRED Properties. “But it’s the market-rate piece of this project that seems to be raising issues … the perspective is that the Housing Authority is becoming a competitor in the free-market development community.”

“It’s certainly a non-traditional role,” says Wangard, referring to the city acting as a developer. “The Housing Authority has an important role — to provide safe and affordable housing for as many people as possible. … But I think the Housing Authority should stay true to its mission and maximize the opportunities it has with the dollars it has to spend,” he continues.

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** A Housing Authority subsidiary with a social mission
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The upscale development is a marked departure from a typical affordable housing project developed by the HACM, a government agency that is primarily funded by the federal government but is effectively controlled by the City of Milwaukee.

As such, the project has raised eyebrows among developers, some of whom have criticized the efficiency of using Housing Authority funds to build upscale, high-rise housing, even if it includes some affordable units. They also question the merits of a government agency directly competing with private developers on luxury apartment buildings in an already crowded marketplace.

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** Opportunity Zones stray from original intent
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How does this happen? Part of the problem is the overly broad zone criteria, which allows census tracts to qualify even if they’re not truly economically distressed. Furthermore, there aren’t any requirements regarding what kinds of projects must be built in the zones, critics note.

As such, this has led to construction of upscale hotels, apartments, office towers and the like instead of projects that benefit low-income residents, says Stan Veuger, an economist for the Washington, D.C.-based American Enterprise Institute, a public policy think tank.

“You can look at the criteria and tell that a lot of people will benefit from this program that don’t need federal support,” he says. “If you’re going to try to present it as a poverty-prevention program, rich people shouldn’t be the beneficiaries.

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