MADISON, WIS. (excerpts from madison.com)–Madison’s building boom continues, largely with housing projects that will bring hundreds of new units to Downtown and across the community.
“During and since the pandemic, Madison has had four very strong years for multi-family housing approvals, both market-rate and income-restricted affordable housing,” city planning director Heather Stouder said. “Many of those developments are completed, under construction, or soon to be under construction, while others have experienced some delay due to rising interest rates, costs of construction and other factors.
In 2022 and 2023, the city saw record housing approvals in the core Downtown, which will amount to nearly 3,000 new apartment units located within walking distance of the state Capitol, Stouder said.
“We’ve seen a growing proportion of Madison’s new housing — both market rate and affordable — happening in large buildings with well over 100 apartment homes,” she said. “We expect that trend to continue, even while the city continues to find ways to support smaller-scale buildings, more diverse housing options, and homeownership opportunities.”
Three of the ten projects featured in the madison.com article were facilitated through planning and entitlement services by Vandewalle & Associates, including:
3401 E. Washington Ave. Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp. will construct 245 mostly low-cost units in four buildings, commercial space, a small park and parking at the former Gardner Bakery and then Bimbo Bakeries USA at 3401 E. Washington Ave. on the East Side. For decades, fresh baked good were made on the site. Gardner Bakery, founded in 1926, opened the facility once equipped with “the most advanced devices for the manufacture of fine bakery products” in 1952. Bimbo Bakeries USA bought Sara Lee Corp.’s North American fresh bakery unit, including its bakery there, in 2011.
Johnson and Bassett Streets. The City Council in June rejected this 12-story student housing tower with 232 units at 437-445 W. Johnson St. But a month later, facing legal complications and armed with more information, the council reversed its decision, paving the way for developer Core Spaces, which has been behind other developments including HUB and The James. The development will open in the space at 437-445 W. Johnson St., 430-444 W. Dayton St., and 215-221 N. Bassett St. Downtown.
121 E. Wilson St. Core Spaces is building another development, this one a 14-story project with 455 apartments at 408-430 W. Johnson St., 304-318 N. Broom St., and 405-407 and 431 W. Gorham St. Downtown. The project would raze 13 buildings and remake much of a city block. In November, the developers said the project would be four separate but connected buildings, including an eight-story brick- and metal-paneled building facing Broom Street; a 14-story building on Johnson Street with a rooftop and amenity deck; a leaner 14-story building wedged between the Johnson and Broom Street buildings that is also topped with a rooftop and amenity deck; and a 15-story building on the southwestern end of the block that would be connected to the larger 14-story building via a glass skywalk on the second floor.
You can read more about these and the other projects in the list of ten in the full madison.com article.