In a big boost for needed housing, the City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a Madison nonprofit’s plan for a $70 million low-cost housing project to replace a sprawling, vacant former bakery property on the East Side.
Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp. is buying the 6.4-acre former Bimbo Bakeries USA property at 3401 E. Washington Ave. and will create 245 subsidized apartments in four buildings, commercial space, a small park and parking.
The project could become the first to get city financial assistance to support lower-income housing and use special construction measures to insulate units in anticipation of the stationing of U.S. Air Force F-35 fighter jets at nearby Truax Field starting in 2024 or 2025.
The site, which now includes a 2,100-square-foot retail building and 111,000-square-foot former bakery at the corner of East Washington Avenue and North Fair Oaks Avenue, is assessed at $2.85 million and has been vacant since 2019. It’s adjacent to Hawthorne Elementary School, 3344 Concord Ave.
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Created in 2002, WHPC has acquired, developed and renovated more than 158 low-cost rental housing developments with more than 8,550 family and senior units in the state.
“WHPC understands the large unmet need for more quality affordable housing,” chief operating officer Michael Slavish said Tuesday. “In Madison and throughout Wisconsin only one-third of those who qualify for affordable housing can actually find it. The remaining population ends up spending significantly more than 30% of their income for housing alone, not leaving enough for other life necessities such as food, utilities, child care, transportation and medical care.”
- A five-story building with 77 apartments, community and exercise rooms, and 4,350 square feet of commercial space.
- A five-story building with 110 apartments, a community room and rooftop plaza.
- A three-story building with 46 apartments and community room.
- A two-story building with 12 three-bedroom townhomes.
- An underground parking garage with 216 spaces and 72 surface spaces.
- A 1.5-acre green space that transitions to Hawthorne Elementary School.
The project will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom units to support income levels from 30% of Dane County Area Median Income, or $30,140 for a family of three, to 80% of AMI, or $83,040 for that family, Slavish said. WHPC is working with Lutheran Social Services to provide on-site resident services, he said.
The 1.5-acre park at the southeast corner of the parcel will be owned and maintained by WHPC and be open for public use year-round.
Repurposing the blighted site will help serve as a catalyst for further reinvestment in the area, Slavish said. The site is strategic given its immediate access to the city’s Bus Rapid Transit system and other amenities, he said.
In January, when WHPC first proposed the project, Ald. Syed Abbas, 12th District, who represents the site, applauded the low-cost housing but voiced concern about placing it in an area within the 65-decibel boundary of the F-35 fighter jet noise map, which is considered compatible with residential development only if soundproofing measures are taken during building construction.
In the following months, WHPC worked with Abbas, other city officials and neighbors to finalize a plan to provide soundproofing. The city, which is considering creation of a tax incremental financing (TIF) district in the area, could provide TIF and other financial support for affordable housing, and could require the sound mitigation.
WHPC has committed to providing sound mitigation at a cost of about $5,000 per unit, Slavish said. It includes upgraded windows and exterior doors, spray foam insulation, additional drywall and resilient channels in walls and ceilings, and added brick to exterior facades for vibration mitigation from traffic noise and proximity to the airport, he said.
While some developments have incorporated sound mitigation due to loud noise levels in the area, this would be the first known to deliver mitigation in anticipation of the F-35s, city Planning Division director Heather Stouder said.
“I really like the project,” Abbas said, noting that he opposes the F-35s and believes the city must protect public health and well-being. “I think it will set a good template on how projects should be done.”
“I think this is a great use for the land,” said resident Jacob Dougherty, who lives nearby.
WHPC estimates a construction start of spring 2023, with construction proceeding in phases to be completed within two years.
Photos: Community Pharmacy and Room of One’s Own book store through the years
Community Pharmacy
Community Pharmacy on South Fair Oaks Avenue is adjacent to an apartment building and across the street from another.
Community Pharmacy
Technician Karen Solien helps a customer at the pharmacy counter in the new space on South Fair Oaks Avenue for Community Pharmacy. The business was founded in 1972 and is now housed in a brick building constructed in 1925 near Garver Feed Mill and a bike path.
A Room of One’s Own
Customers browse the bookshelves at A Room of One’s Own on Atwood Avenue.
A Room of One’s Own
Sydne Conant organizes books in the front window of A Room of One’s Own on Atwood Avenue. The store opened to walk-in traffic on Oct. 3 after closing to in-person shopping in March 2020.
Community Pharmacy
A vintage sign from the early days of Community Pharmacy is displayed on a wall of the store’s new digs at 130 S. Fair Oaks Ave.
Community Pharmacy
Employee Kyah Fuller stocks the shelves at Community Pharmacy in Madison. Much of the shelving in the new space was salvaged from the former Downtown location.
A Room of One’s Own
Misian Taylor arranges books at A Room of One’s Own, 2717 Atwood Ave., which recently moved from Downtown, where the store had been a staple since the 1970s.
A Room of One’s Own
A Room of One’s Own opened to walk-in customers on Oct. 3 and has quickly become melded into its East Side neighborhood. The building was constructed in 1916 for the Madison Motor Car Co.
Community Pharmacy
Richard Kilmer, a pharmacist at Community Pharmacy, 341 State Street, helps a customer Monday. The 3,942-square-foot stores sells a wide range of prescriptions, herbs, supplements, body care and homeopathic remedies. Shoppers can even find greeting cards with the Beatles.
Barry Adams | Wisconsin State Journal
Community Pharmacy (copy)
Chicory Poppinoff, an herbalist at Community Pharmacy, is shown here in a 2016 photo. Products in the herbal department include Wisconsin-grown ginseng and elderflower; yarrow, wild yam and shea butter.
Barry Adams | Wisconsin State Journal
Community Pharmacy
Community Pharmacy, at State and West Gorham streets, has plans to move to the city’s East Side after opening Downtown almost 50 years ago.
Barry Adams | Wisconsin State Journal
A Room of One’s Own (copy)
The 46-year-old Room of One’s Own bookstore has been in its current location near the corner of State and W. Gorham streets since 2011. On Monday, owners announced they’d signed a 20-year lease on 2717 Atwood Ave.
A Room of One’s Own finds a buyer
Jes Lukes helps a customer at A Room of One’s Own bookstore on Wednesday. Lukes, 30, is one of three people purchasing the beloved bookstore in Downtown Madison.
A Room of One’s Own
David Harms, of Madison, browses through shelves of books at A Room of One’s Own bookstore, 315 W. Gorham St. The store will be moving to the Atwood neighborhood on Madison’s East Side.
A Room of One’s Own finds a buyer
Anne Perrote, of Madison, a longtime customer of A Room of One’s Own bookstore, tucks away purchases in her bicycle bag outside the book shop at 315 W. Gorham St., just a few yards off State Street. The store — its motto “Eat, Sleep, Read” — was founded in 1975 in a 2,000-square-foot space at 317 W. Johnson St. and in 1997 moved to a 3,000-square-foot space at 307 W. Johnson St. It doubled in size in 2011 when it moved to its current location next to Community Pharmacy and into space that had been home to Avol’s Books after the closing of Canterbury Booksellers.
A Room of One’s Own finds a buyer
Sandi Torkildson, right, co-owner of A Room of One’s Own bookstore, is selling the business to Gretchen Treu, who has worked at the store for the past 11 years, and two partners.
A Room of One’s Own finds a buyer
After a nearly two-year process, A Room of One’s Own bookstore, 315 W. Gorham St., is about to get new owners. Sandi Torkildson, who helped found the store in 1975, and Nancy Geary, have announced that an ownership group consisting of bookstore employees Gretchen Treu and Jes Lukes along with silent partner Patrick Rothfuss, an award-winning science fiction author from Stevens Point, will purchase the business on June 30. The store has 198,000 titles spread among 405,000 books of a variety of genres.
Room of One’s Own
A bookstore can be a draw to not only locals but to visitors to the city. Edgar Francis of Stevens Point visited A Room of One’s Own bookstore in Madison last week.
Room of One’s Own
A Room of One’s Own bookstore is located in space that at one time was home to Avol’s Books and, prior to that, Canterbury Books.
Room of One’s Own
Sandi Torkildson, co-owner and one of five original founders of A Room of One’s Own bookstore in Madison, has announced that she and business partner Nancy Geary are selling the store. It was founded in 1975 on West Johnson Street and now occupies 6,000 square feet at 315 W. Gorham St. near State Street.