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STURGEON BAY – A new program aims to provide housing developers with financial incentives to build sorely needed affordable apartments, townhouses and other rental units across Door County.
The Door County Workforce Housing Lending Corp. came about through a collaborative effort between the Door County Community Foundation and NeighborWorks Green Bay, a nonprofit organization that offers education and counsel to existing and aspiring homeowners. The program launched Sept. 8.
“The vision of the Workforce Housing Lending Corporation is simple: that every fully employed person can afford a safe, quality place to live,” a news release from the Door County Community Foundation said. “The mission is ambitious: to increase the availability of workforce housing in Door County and potentially all of Northeast Wisconsin.”
The nonprofit lending corporation will provide incentives through financing and fixed-rate, lower-interest loans for private developers to build housing units in Door County whose rent is “within the price range of Door County working families,” the news release said.
Bret Bicoy, executive director of the foundation, said the program is using the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development standard that defines “affordable” as no more than 30% of a household’s gross income. For someone grossing $3,000 a month, $900 would be considered affordable rent.
“Right now, the focus is first and foremost on increasing quality, affordable rental housing,” Bicoy told the Advocate. “We’re looking for a handful of developers we feel comfortable with that can build good, quality, affordable housing.”
How many more affordable units? Well, let’s talk …
The initiative does not require developers to build a set number of affordable units, and the housing projects can provide a mix of affordable and market-rate units, Bicoy said. He said the program recognizes that developers are in business to make a profit, and the important thing is to give developers the incentive to offer a certain number of units that meet the definition of affordable while still being quality living spaces.
“It’s not a requirement that developers build something where every unit meets the definition of affordable,” Bicoy said. “The program aims to make it more palatable if the developer can rent out some units at an affordable rate and some at market rate.”
To that end, the lending corporation and prospective developers can negotiate the number of affordable units the developers build in a given project.
“We’re not trying to create a government type of thing that will tell (developers) what they need to build,” Bicoy said. “We’re trying to give developers a tool where they can provide affordable units and make money. There’s a lot of smart developers out there, and we’re hoping they’ll come forward and say, let’s work together. We want a developer to be able to build at a low-enough price where they can make a profit.
“We’re saying to the developer, you come to us and tell us what’s going to work for you. We’re not stuck to specific numbers. We’re going to negotiate the best deal we can.”
Apartments are being built, but there’s still a big need
The need for more affordable housing in Door County was noted in a study released in 2019 that said the Peninsula already was short 470 affordable workforce rental units as of 2017 and would need another 70 units on top of that by now. Since then, a number of housing projects have been built, are planned or are under construction in Door County.
However, Bicoy noted that with exception of The Shoals, a new 45-unit apartment complex built specifically for the affordable housing market by Mosaic Property Ventures in Sister Bay, most of the new apartments and townhouses rent out at market rate, meaning the rent is based on rents charged for other similar properties in the area. The rent for affordable units generally is lower than market-rate rent.
Bicoy added that the housing shortage has been exacerbated in recent years by a number of rental properties that changed into short-term travel or vacation rentals, such as Airbnb and Vrbo rentals.
“There’s a shortage of housing on Door County,” Bicoy said. “We need hundreds of units just to keep up with the population.”
And that has a strong effect on the Door County economy, Bicoy said, with full-time workers fighting to find places where they can afford to live and potential summer employees, the backbone of the county’s tourism-driven economy, unable to find a place to live at all.
“All these things are creating an enormous challenge,” Bicoy said. “There’s a number of year-round businesses, even seasonal businesses, that have had to adjust because they can’t find workers, and housing is at the front and center of that problem.”
FYI
Housing developers, nonprofit housing organizations or local business owners interested in building multifamily units in Door County can get more information on the Workforce Housing Lending Corp. by calling NeighborWorks at 920-448-3075 or emailing whlc@nwgreenbay.org.
The Door County Community Foundation wants to hear from individuals and organizations interested in supporting, and donating to, the initiative. For more information, visit builddoorcounty.org.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.
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