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SPECIAL REPORT | MADISON’S HOUSING CRISIS

Madison is a boon for housing developers, but they decry excessive hurdles

From the SPECIAL REPORT | MADISON'S HOUSING CRISIS series

DEAN MOSIMAN
May 15, 2024
May 15, 2024 Updated Aug 12, 2024

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Madison housing 1

Threshold Development Group forged a collaboration with Madison city staff and the neighborhood to overcome obstacles and bring higher density to a $50 million redevelopment with 188 housing units and commercial space rising on the 800 block of Williamson Street. But Threshold also got socked with $800,000 in costs late in the approval process to upgrade sanitary sewer that will extend far beyond the project.

JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Madison housing 2

Construction proceeds on Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp.'s 245-unit lower-cost housing project at East Washington and Fair Oaks avenues, adjacent to Hawthorne Elementary School on the East Side. WHPC needed a lengthy review to secure city approvals and a building permit, but the city also gave the project financial support.

JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Madison housing 3

The city required a "step back" on the top floors of the Avenir development in the 500 block of West Washington Avenue. The requirement, which reduced the total number of units that could be built, is meant to preserve Downtown views of the lakes and Capitol, and in areas where taller buildings are common, to reduce a “canyon effect,” city officials say.

JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Madison housing 4

Bruce Bosben, chairman of Apex Real Estate Holdings of Madison, said the new 10-story, Adria apartments at 179 W. Wilson St. should have been 14 stories, with another 100 units, but that zoning didn’t allow that, despite there being other taller buildings nearby. He also spent extra money for required bird-safe glass on lower floors and about $300,000 to redesign the upper floors with smaller windows to avoid the regulation. He also spent more than $250,000 to install a green roof.

AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Madison housing 5

Developer Terrence Wall planned to use traditional brick for the six-story Peloton apartments at Fish Hatchery Road and South Park Street. But he said Madison insisted on a glass prow that added $1.2 million in cost because he had to change the construction materials for that part of the building. He said he also had to redesign the building because the city wanted 6 feet of right-of-way on one side, adding more cost. “Sure, it looks great," Wall said, "but we had to raise all the rents in the entire building to pay for that.”

JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Madison housing 6

Westley Spitznagle outside his newly constructed accessory dwelling unit, at left, behind his home on the Near West Side. Spitznagle didn't need a conditional use permit to build the unit, but the process took a while to ensure the unit wouldn't impede the Fire Department or other services. "If there's one aspect I'd consider changing, it would be the duration it took to get a building permit," he said.

JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Madison housing 7

As the city shapes a new West Area Plan, one of 12 plans that will eventually cover the city, residents in the Old Sauk Road area display signs protesting the possibility of rezoning that would allow more density. As a review process unfolded, city staff made changes in response to concerns raised on the West Side.

JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

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DEAN MOSIMAN

To try to keep pace with its unrelenting population growth, Madison has made unprecedented investments in subsidized housing and aggressively pushed through policy changes meant to spur development.

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In this Series

SPECIAL REPORT | MADISON'S HOUSING CRISIS

Updated Jun 5, 2024
Madison's housing crisis is a national extreme
Updated Aug 12, 2024
Madison is a boon for housing developers, but they decry excessive hurdles
Updated May 30, 2024
Madison's building permit process can take over a year. Some suburbs take longer
7 updates

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