Baldwin hears from northern Wisconsin leaders on housing

SUPERIOR — U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin learned from local experts on Wednesday, Aug. 13, about efforts to stem the housing crisis in Wisconsin.

The roundtable discussion at the Entrepreneurial Center included city leaders, the Superior Housing Authority and CheqBUILT — a community land trust that serves residents in Ashland and Bayfield counties.

Statewide, an estimated 200,000 additional units of housing will be needed by 2030. In Superior, more than 3,600 units will be needed by 2035, according to a 2023 housing study by Maxfield Research & Consulting.

Since about 2018, the city has added approximately 500 units, in large part because of apartment developments by P&R Properties, said Jason Serck, Superior’s economic development, port and planning director.

“We’ve had a really good partnership with them … whether it be land grants of city-owned land, or tax increment financing,” Serck said. “So that had been really successful.”

Serck said P&R Properties is redeveloping which will provide 50 units, including 23 that are rent-controlled for 15 years.

Ryan Nelson of P&R Properties said he was born and raised in Superior and was passionate about the community. A plumber by trade, he turned his attention to multifamily housing. He built 24 units in the village of Superior before turning his attention to the city in 2016, where he built the 54-unit Onyx, 89-unit 320 North, 130-unit

Central Flats

and 120-unit Acadia apartment complexes in addition to projects in Hermantown, Duluth and Eau Claire.

The projects probably wouldn’t have happened without the partnership of the city, Nelson said.

Serck said the city has also been getting creative to address the need for more single-family housing by giving away lots through the

Vacant to Value: New Construction program.

“We’re trying to get that single-family market back,” Serck said.

In addition to the new construction, Superior Housing Coordinator Jeff Skrenes noted the Vacant to Value: Renovation program. Under that program, the city acquires distressed or abandoned properties close to being demolished, typically on nonconforming lots, and sells them, usually for $1, to a vetted developer to revitalize the property.

“So, if we had not acquired them, they could have been demolished and that unit of housing would have been lost in perpetuity,” Skrenes said.

One emergent trend the city is seeing is the aging population. When homeowners move to assisted facilities, Skrenes said the residences they leave behind are often neglected. He said while there are a lot of details to work out, it’s something the city is trying to get ahead of as much as possible.

The Superior Housing Authority has 466 public housing units. The state’s oldest housing authority recently undertook a rental assistance demonstration project to

preserve 200 units

in Bayview and Catlin Courts. Renovations at Bayview are complete and Catlin Courts is expected to be finished soon.

Tax credits are a vital part of doing the renovation work, said Pam Benson, director of the Superior Housing Authority. Benson said the housing authority had considered tearing down and rebuilding, but with the cost of construction so expensive, it made more sense to do the renovation.

Another way to keep housing affordable is a land trust, suggested Alex Nelson, director of CheqBUILT, a community land trust in Ashland and Bayfield counties. He said the land trust owns the land and the homeowner owns the home on top of it to keep housing costs affordable.

“Those households are the households that are providing workers who are essential to our thriving community,” Nelson said. He said 60%-74% of the time, after five to seven years, those families move to market-rate housing, making it possible for other families to move in.

Baldwin said she appreciated meeting with community leaders who are finding solutions to the housing crisis.

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the cost of housing in recent years,” Baldwin said. “And this is true both for people who seek to be homeowners as well as renters. And I know that the ultimate solutions are going to be partnerships between local units of government, private developers, counties, nonprofit agencies, the state and the federal government.”

Shelley Nelson is a reporter with the Duluth Media Group since 1997, and has covered Superior and Douglas County communities and government for the Duluth News Tribune from 1999 to 2006, and the Superior Telegram since 2006. Contact her at 715-395-5022 or snelson@superiortelegram.com.