Apartment Construction Increases In Several Wisconsin Cities

Apartment construction is up in several cities across Wisconsin.

Buying a home used to be part of American Dream, but developer Otto Gebhardt says the housing crisis changed that for some people. He says buying a home is not for everyone, especially for those who don’t want to worry about potential fluctuations in value or be tied down.

“The apartment rental is the obvious choice that makes more sense – to have flexibility and not as much risk,” says Gebhardt.

Apartment construction is up nationwide and the trend can be seen in several Wisconsin cities, including Eau Claire, Madison, and Milwaukee. Many of these new units are higher end.

Madison, for example, has seen an increase in the number of mid-to-high priced apartments. Brenda Konkel, who heads the Tenant Resource Center, says some people are excited to havehousing like this.

“People are paying what I think is a very high price for housing, but people are happy to do it if they can afford it,” says Konkel.

But many can’t afford the rent, which has some in Madison calling for more affordable housing downtown.

“One thing that we have heard with regard to the development that we’re seeing is that there haven’t been a lot of new, affordable units brought online recently,” says Tim Parks with the Madison Department of Planning and Development.

But developers say they are building what people want, and that the market for downtown apartments has expanded beyond young professionals. Now, they say, they are attracting groups that typically don’t live downtown: empty nesters and young families who want to be closer to stores, restaurants and other types of entertainment.