As people make their way through the front door of a newly built townhome in Lac du Flambeau, Kevin McDonell points out some of the features.
The three bedroom, two and half bath home has in-unit washer and dryer, built in shelving, and a private patio.
“We do have two single story units that are fully ADA accessible. But 38 of the 40 are two story townhouse style are pretty much like this. We got a pretty close to an even 50/50 split of two bedrooms and three bedrooms,” McDonell told people. McDonell is VP & Regional Project Partner for Lincoln Avenue Communities, the developer of this housing project.
McDonell began working on the Forest Edge Apartments five years ago near the start of the pandemic.
He says the Northwoods was on his radar as a place more people were likely going to move to as remote work became more common.
Then he realized just how much of a need there was for this kind of housing here.
“We realized kind of how much of a need there was from actually the local tribal community, and need for kind of, not necessarily even always a workforce level of need, just a need for some of the folks that are very low income,” said McDonell. “Then we also saw a really huge need from the local tourism industry, from the local restaurants, and from the large employers.”
This housing is designed to address all those needs.
There are units set aside for Section 811 vouchers for those with disabilities.
Many are focused on the workforce with units for folks that are at 50 to 60% of county median income.
Then there are five at market rate.
The need for this is clear as most units are already occupied or have applications in for them.
There are still Section 811 units available, which McDonell encourages people to apply for.
“I really hope that the development is going to support all the great businesses, help support the amazing tourism industry that's up here,” said McDonell.
McDonell says its surreal to be at this moment five years after starting the project.
Unique challenges
Aside from working on this through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp rise in construction costs, there were some unique challenges to building in the area.
A major one being utilities.
McDonell was hoping to tap into the Lac du Flambeau Tribe’s water and sewer, but the tribe wanted a commitment that a certain number of tribal members would be served by the development.
While there are a number of tribal members living there, McDonell says they couldn’t make that commitment because of fair housing laws.
They ended up building a community well and septic system.
“I think we might have one of the largest septic systems in the state of Wisconsin, one of our consultants told us at one point. So that was a really unique aspect of the development,” said McDonell.
There was also no easy natural gas hook up, so rather than go with LP propane, the entire housing complex is electric.
“Lincoln Avenue Communities is a really mission driven, oriented company. Everything that we do, we really try to make it as green and sustainable as possible, and we really felt it was the right thing to do being in this location, and kind of given the designs that we're working on,” said McDonell.
It’s outfitted with solar panels and the units are heated with electric heat pump systems, some of the first adapted to the colder temperatures here.
They were decisions that made Cal Couillard very happy to see.
“They did everything right from the beginning, not as an afterthought,” said Couillard.
Couillard and his wife Laurie started the Couillard Solar Foundation and have the Solar for Good program that typically gifts about half the solar panels needed for a project like this.
Forest Edge Apartments got 100 panels through the program.
The Couillard’s came up from Deerfield for the ribbon cutting because, as Cal puts it, the complex did it right with south facing roofs for the panels, proper insulation, and the heat pumps.
He strongly believes actions like this are needed now to curb the impacts of climate change.
“I feel like we have to leave, like people like myself that are this age, we have to do more for our children and grandchildren and that's what I saw happening. I want to talk about that more,” said Couillard. “Now that I learned that the Native people have this seven generation thought process, I'm going to use that over and over again, because I really believe we got about a seven minute one.”
Building with sustainable energy and doing it in a rural area is expensive.
This development cost about $15 million to build.
'Absolutely Crucial'
McDonell says it took multiple financing sources and more than $10 million in federal tax credits through the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority or WHEDA.
“We're also committing to different affordability levels, which means that there is a significant gap in our funding sources, and really the, I shouldn't say the only way to fill it, but really, the only consistent way to fill that gap is through the rental housing tax credit program that WHEDA administers,” said McDonell.
Vilas County Economic Development Corporation Board Chairman Jim Tuckwell said incentives are needed to make it financially viable for developers to build in the Northwoods.
He hopes Lincoln Avenue Communities and other developers will bring more affordable projects to the area.
“It's just absolutely crucial. We have a significant shortage in affordable housing in the Northwoods and this is key to job growth and keeping jobs, quite frankly, so that people that are looking for and find jobs here in Northwoods can also find an affordable place to live,” said Tuckwell.
You can learn more about Forest Edge Apartments on its website. Wisconsin Management Company manages the property.
This story is part of WXPR’s focus on solutions in the Northwoods. You can learn more about our Solutions Journalism effort and share ideas here.
