Milwaukee City Development

10/09/2026

You're Invited!
📢 Red Arrow Park Public Engagement Session
📆Tuesday, October 13
⏰3:30 PM - 6:00 PM
🎈City Hall Rotunda, 200 E. Wells St.

We’re collectively redesigning one of Downtown Milwaukee’s most iconic spaces — and your voice is at the heart of it.

Join this open house-style session to comment on two leading design concepts refined through community input gathered to date.

The improved Red Arrow Park will be Milwaukee’s “living room” — a vibrant, inclusive gathering place for year-round connection, cultural expression, and shared experiences. Help shape the future of this important space!

To learn more about the Red Arrow Park Redesign project, visit milwaukeedowntown.com.

10/08/2026

DCD Commissioner Lafayette Crump had the honor of meeting with five Members of Parliament from Papua New Guinea on October 7, 2026, as well as their Program Facilitator, Pamela Pittard, and Anna Savary (not pictured), the Director of International Programs for the International Institute of Wisconsin. The Members of Parliament traveled to Wisconsin as part of a program funded by the Congressional Office for International Leadership. Commissioner Crump spoke to the group about the following topics:

+ What responsibilities belong to municipal versus state/national government
+ How City of Milwaukee departments coordinate economic development
+ How elected officials and professional city administrators work together
+ How Milwaukee attracts private investment and creates jobs
+ Strategies for revitalizing neighborhoods and commercial corridors
+ Using public resources to leverage private-sector investment
+ Incentives and tools cities can use to encourage development
+ Milwaukee’s strategies for increasing affordable housing

The International Institute of Wisconsin is dedicated to the promotion of international cooperation and understanding.

10/06/2026

Homes MKE is in the 9th Inning and Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s Year of Housing is in full swing! ⚾️

Homes MKE is a City of Milwaukee Initiative that is renovating vacant City-owned houses into quality homeownership opportunities!

Contact a realtor to tour a Homes MKE property today:

🏠 2971 N. 14th St. : $179,900: Completely remodeled 5BR/2BA home with extensive updates throughout! Improvements include a new roof, siding, windows, trim, furnace, water heater, electrical, plumbing, and a fully renovated interior...

🏠 2618 N. 24th Pl. : $165,000: Beautifully renovated 3BR/2BA property offers a move-in-ready, comfortable living space. Major improvements include a new kitchen, new bathrooms, new plumbing, new electrical, new roof and new mechanicals...

🏡 2932 W. Walnut St. : $175,000: A spacious renovated two-story, 4-bedroom, 2-bath home situated on a corner lot. The living room offers a cozy electric fireplace and flows seamlessly into the spacious dining area and updated kitchen, complete with new cabinets and countertops. Outside, a 2-car garage provides convenient parking ...

You can visit Milwaukee.gov/mayor/Year-of-Housing to find housing-related resources, data to track City progress in its housing goals, and discover what City government is doing to address housing.

10/05/2026

It's Feature Friday! Today, we want to spotlight Judy Lathon-Carson! Judy is a Housing Programs Specialist at nidc_milwaukee and, as she prepares to retire, is proud to look back on all she's done for the community.

"I work as a Housing Programs Specialist with the City's Milwaukee City Development's, Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation (NIDC). Whew, what a mouthful, huh? 😊 I have been going by that for the last 27.5 years; however, it is the official way of saying I am a Loan Officer with NIDC.

During my tenure with NIDC, I’ve had the pleasure of helping homeowners obtain financing to rehabilitate their City of Milwaukee homes, provide grant assistance and/or subsidies to first-time homebuyers so they can purchase their first home within the City of Milwaukee, provide rehabilitation assistance to buyers of foreclosed City of Milwaukee properties, provide matching forgivable loans to investor owners to rehabilitate their City of Milwaukee rental properties, facilitate community housing fairs, participate in Aldermen and Alderwomen neighborhood meetings, meet with organizations, banks and businesses about City of Milwaukee lending programs for homeowners and lastly meet with the general public or field calls at the NIDC office who may have questions about assistance to rehabilitate their home. To support these duties, I would process/review, underwrite, and close loan applications.

I enjoy people and numbers. It seems like a weird combination, but it works for me, which is why NIDC is a great place for me to work. I am passionate about the community I live in and the people who live in it with me. I get to meet and talk with applicants about the challenges they face with their properties. Then we discuss their finances, strategize how best to use them, and choose the loan program that best fits their financial and rehabilitation needs. Working at NIDC lets me help people in the community stay in their homes when they may have no other resources to fix them.

As I reflect on my 27.5 years with NIDC (I retire October 30, 2026), the personnel have changed, but the City of Milwaukee's homeownership needs haven’t changed overall. There will always be homeowners who will need assistance with financing and repairs. However, how the City of Milwaukee interacts with its constituents is key. I like that many of my direct and indirect City of Milwaukee colleagues enjoy people, and it shows. NIDC and the City of Milwaukee do quality work helping homeowners maintain their homes. I am proud to say that I am part of that team."

We are proud to have you on our City team, and we thank you for all you do!

10/02/2026

The Gary P. Grunau Memorial Plaza is officially opened! The Plaza adds a public space to the broader Milwaukee Riverwalk network and improves connections among the Water Street entertainment district, the Deer District and the King Drive entertainment district.

The City of Milwaukee used tax incremental financing to support the plaza and pedestrian bridge improvements. In January 2025, the Common Council approved up to $5 million for the project, which is proceeding under a development agreement with the Riverwalk Business Improvement District.

“Vibrant cities are built around great public spaces where residents and visitors can explore and neighborhoods and destinations can connect,” said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “This plaza strengthens our incredible Riverwalk, improves the pedestrian experience, and gives people another reason to spend time along one of Milwaukee’s most beautiful assets.”

Read more from BizTimes ⬇️

The new Gary P. Grunau Memorial Plaza, located at West Highland Avenue and North Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in downtown Milwaukee, was unveiled

10/01/2026

Milwaukee's REVIVE Housing Development Attached Housing Pilot is designed to put new owner-occupied housing on city-owned vacant lots. The homes are intended for households earning no more than 80% of area median income. The initiative comes during Mayor Cavalier Johnson's designation of 2026 as Milwaukee's "Year of Housing," an effort focused on increasing housing supply, affordability and access.

For most people, an empty lot is just that — an empty lot. For Mariah Johnson, it represents something she has wanted for much of her life: a place in Milwaukee she can finally call her own.

10/01/2026

A new public gathering space is now open along Milwaukee’s Riverwalk, connecting several of downtown’s busiest entertainment districts while honoring one of the developers credited with helping shape the city’s riverfront.

09/30/2026

Leaders with the City of Milwaukee cut the ribbon on a new riverfront plaza Downtown on Monday. The space, on the stub of West Highland Avenue between the Milwaukee River and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, honors local real estate developer Gary P. Grunau.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and other dignitaries cut the ribbon on a new riverfront plaza Downtown on Monday. The space, on the stub of West Highland Avenue between the Milwaukee River and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, honors local real estate developer Gary P. Grunau, who passed away in 2...

09/30/2026

DCD Development Tour - Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Homeownership Initiative: With school back in session and Mayor Cavalier Johnson's Year of Housing in full swing, we're taking a look back at the conversation and tour in which JoAnna Bautch who serves as the Executive Director of VIA Community Development Corporation hosted DCD Commissioner Lafayatte Crump. JoAnna provided an inside look at of one of the homes built as part of the successfully completed and award-winning Early Childhood Educator Homeownership Initiative.

As of September 2026, the final house of the 42 single-family homes built for Early Childhood Educators on vacant City lots has been completed and sold... a remarkable accomplishment! VIA Community Development Corporation built 20 of the homes, Envision Growth built 14, Rooted & Rising - Washington Park and Milwaukee Community Crossroads each built 4. The homes were built in five Milwaukee neighborhoods (Amani, Harambee, Metcalfe Park, Washington Park and the near Southside which includes: Silver City, Clarke Square, Muskego Way, Historic Mitchell Street, & Lincoln Village). The houses, designed with community input, were strategically built on vacant City-owned lots near 5 five Early Childhood Educator centers: COA Youth & Family Centers , Malaika Early Learning Center , Next Door - Milwaukee Foundation Early Childhood Education, United Community Center Early Learning Academy (Ricardo Diaz Early Learning Academy), and Growing Tree Children’s Center (Rooted & Rising).

Homes in the Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Homeownership Initiative sold for about $105,000 thanks to investments from the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Herb Kohl Philanthropies & Herb Kohl Educational Foundation, Zilber Family Foundation , Greater Milwaukee Foundation , the American Family Institute , City of Milwaukee , Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development , LISC Milwaukee (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), the Community Development Alliance (CDA) , and others.

You can visit Milwaukee.gov/mayor/Year-of-Housing to find housing-related resources, data to track City progress in its housing goals, and discover what City government is doing to address housing.

09/29/2026

DCD Economic Development & Milwaukee Riverwalk Specialist Alyssa Re*****on joined City of Milwaukee DCD Commissioner Lafayette Crump, Mayor Cavalier Johnson , as well as family, friends, and colleagues of the late Gary P. Grunau to celebrate the opening of the Gary P. Grunau Memorial Plaza, a new public gathering space along the Milwaukee River designed to strengthen riverfront pedestrian connections between the east and west sides of downtown.

The plaza honors Gary P. Grunau, a prominent Milwaukee real estate developer, civic leader, and longtime champion of downtown revitalization. Grunau played a pivotal role in transforming Milwaukee's riverfront by advancing the Milwaukee Riverwalk, and the memorial plaza carries Grunau’s legacy forward by creating another welcoming connection to the riverfront he helped transform.