GREEN BAY — The first tenant has moved in to a downtown Green Bay workforce housing development that aims to help renters avoid housing instability and put them on a path to more economic prosperity.
City Center Lofts is a 72-unit socially inclusive housing complex developed by the Gateway Collective , a local housing nonprofit founded in 2022 with a mission to help more families avoid housing instability or homelessness.
The apartment complex combines high-quality housing at rents families can afford, on-site support services and community engagement in one space.
"These are working people struggling to make ends meet," said Christian Jensen, Gateway Collective's director of development. "We want to help them get ahead."
Construction crews have completed 17 of the 72 apartments in City Center Lofts , and residents are expected to move into the finished one- and two-bedroom units on the second floor of the Baylake City Center building in the days and weeks ahead. The remaining one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units will become available in waves in September and early October.
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Worries over windowless units, which drew concerns from Green Bay leaders, dim when tenants see the apartments
The housing development drew notoriety in spring 2023 when city leaders raised concerns over the lack of exterior windows in 24 of the 72 units and that the apartments would impede downtown revitalization efforts.
The interior apartments that do not have windows on the building's exterior do have windows that face the hallway.
The nonprofit planned to install skylights to funnel light into the interior hallways. It increased the number to more than 100 skylights to help flood the interior units with natural light. The result has been night-and-day, Jensen said.
"The spaces people thought would be darkest have ended up being the brightest," Jensen said.
Eugene Smalls Jr., the on-site community resource advocate for City Center Lofts, gives tours to prospective tenants. He said several people have been concerned the amount of natural light, but that those concerns fade the moment they see the apartments.
"They're more surprised by the brightness, not how dark it is," Smalls said.
Communities like Green Bay need more workforce housing like City Center Lofts
Now, Gateway Collective CEO Alexia Rehn hopes those initial concerns fade and City Center Lofts gains notoriety as an example of how communities like Green Bay can sustainably develop vital " missing middle " or workforce housing. The broad terms refer to a diverse mix of housing types located in walkable neighborhoods that are affordable for families earning up to or more than the area's median income.
"This can be a model for the community to replicate," Rehn said. "It could become a model for other communities to study and take home."
It's a significant need in the Green Bay area and across much of Wisconsin.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition indicates 28% of Wisconsin households that earn 50%-80% of the median income, a key segment of the population City Center Lofts aims to serve, are burdened by housing costs. Additionally, a household needs to earn more than $20 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Green Bay. A 2023 Brown County United Way report on income-constrained working families found one in three families do not earn enough to afford a household survival budget .
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City Center Lofts' in-unit amenities similar to what you get in new Green Bay-area market-rate units
The 72 units range in size from 750 square feet to more than 2,000 square feet and have one, two, three or four bedrooms. The bulk of the units feature loft layouts to capitalize on the building's height.
The apartments themselves feature stainless steel appliances, in-unit combo washer-dryers, solid surface countertops and luxury flooring. All of the appliances are electric and energy efficiency investments in the renovations should keep electricity costs down.
The building offers residents use of a fitness center, outdoor patio, community room, climate-controlled bike storage, a freight elevator and 16-foot hallways. Rent also includes water, electricity, trash removal and parking.
What is socially inclusive housing?
City Center Lofts is what's known as socially inclusive housing. It combines affordable housing for working families with on-site services like financial literacy classes and community engagement with neighbors.
It will be up to Smalls to help foster that sense of community, the neighborhood feeling among City Center Lofts' tenants. He's there to help connect tenants with community services they need, but also to help them get to know each other through gatherings and events.
"I want to see (the community) grow here," he said.
The building's 16-foot-wide hallway also give residents ample room to create their own community connection spaces outside their front doors. The building's first tenant put a small patio table and chairs out, for example.
Instead of fixed rents, Gateway Collective bases what you pay on your income
The City Center Lofts website lists one- and two-bedroom units available right now with three- and four-bedroom units "coming soon." The one-bedroom units indicate a range of $908 to $1,494 per month while the two-bedroom units have rents ranging from $1,030 to $1,804 per month.
But each tenant's rent will be based on their income so tenants don't spend more than 30% of their income on housing. Households spending more than 30% of their income on rent are considered housing cost burdened .
To inquire about available units or those expected to be ready in late September or early October, you can contact Blue Frog Property Management, at admin@bluefrogpm.com or 920-521-9006, Ext. 104.
How does City Center Lofts rent compare to newer, market-rate Green Bay area apartments?
A search of apartment and rental websites indicates monthly rents start several hundred dollars less than some of the Green Bay area's newer apartment developments.
Monthly rent at the recently completed, four-building The Element complex in Ashwaubenon range from $1,300 to $2,200 , but some of those one- and two-bedroom units include two bathrooms. The Common Place, also in Ashwaubenon, has one- and two-bedroom units available for between $1,400 and $1,800 .
Duck Creek Landing Apartments, in Howard, has two-bedroom units available for $1,525 to $1,900 .
Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier .
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Inside City Center Lofts: First of 72 units of downtown Green Bay workforce housing opens
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