MADISON (WKOW) — Ground has been broken on construction for a set of duplexes on Madison’s southeast side. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway says this new housing development is aimed at addressing the “missing middle.”
“Owning a home is one of the clearest paths to generational wealth. For too many decades, it has been inequitable in how people can access home ownership,” Rhodes-Conway said at the development’s groundbreaking.
The vacancy rate for homes is extremely low and the demand is high. This has made for a very competitive home sale market.
It has also made it harder for many people to buy their first home.
City officials say this new housing development is a first step to creating more accessible and affordable housing. The duplex model will also maximize the space by creating multiple opportunities for homeownership. This is compared to past developments where the lot would have been turned into single-family homes.
“Instead of doing that, we’re actually going to have two duplexes, so opportunities for four families to have homes on this lot. That’s the kind of gentle density and missing middle development that Madison needs all across our community,” Rhodes-Conway said.
The development on Great Gray Drive was made possible by a $600,000 investment from the city’s Affordable Housing Fund. The Madison Area Community Land Trust is also a partner in this project. They own the land where the homes are built, making sure the homes stay affordable now and in the future.
Along with plenty of Americans, the housing crisis has also affected how developers plan their projects. Kaba Bah is the developer of the new duplex project. He says although one development won’t fix the entire problem in the city, the first step needs to be a shift in the mentality of real estate planning.
“Developers like me who are coming in also need to be willing to accept less payment and try to make things work,” Bah said. “Understanding that it’s purpose driven, not financially driven, so it takes a lot of sacrifice from multiple partners.”
The new duplex development cost developers just over $400,000 each to build. They sold for $235,000 each. Four new families will be moving in, but there is no set date to start construction.