Inside City East: Why combined United Way home, workforce housing a big win for Green Bay

GREEN BAY - City East Center includes 43 apartments for families, but 44 homes.

The first income-qualified tenants have moved into the $13 million, three-story building, but it's also the new home for the Brown County United Way. The nonprofit agency turned part of the first floor of the mixed-use building in the 1100 block of East Walnut Street into its new offices and a community hub for the Joannes Park neighborhood.

"This space, powered by the Brown County United Way staff, is our first permanent home in our 99-year journey," said Robyn Davis, the United Way's president and CEO. "Even more importantly, it establishes a vibrant, community hub to serve the residents of Joannes Park."

The building's opening on Tuesday drew a large celebration. State and White House officials joined Green Bay-area public, private and nonprofit leaders to mark the occasion. The dozens who attended the event spilled out into Walnut Street during the formal ribbon-cutting, slowing traffic in the neighborhood, while awaiting tours of the three-story building.

More: Inside City Center Lofts: First of 72 units of downtown Green Bay workforce housing opens

A call for more housing development in Green Bay

Community leaders used Tuesday's ceremony to herald the public, private and nonprofit funding and collaboration that produced the much-needed affordable housing units and hub for community services. But they also highlighted the need for more housing developments like City Center East to ensure families that earn more than poverty wages but less than a basic household survival budget can find quality housing they can afford.

"Housing is really, really hard these days and ironically it's more important than ever to develop more housing," Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich said. He later added the city needs a lot of high-quality housing at every price point that Green Bay area in order to ensure all residents can thrive, but that it will "require a grand coalition (of partners) to make it possible."

Here's a closer look at why the Brown County United Way is excited for its new home and what to know about City East Apartments.

City East Center helps Brown County United Way connect with people they serve where they live

The Brown County United Way since 2017 has focused its efforts on Brown County's ALICE population. ALICE stands for "Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, and Employed" and includes any household that makes more than about $31,000, the poverty wage for a family of four, and less than $67,000, the cost of a basic household survival budget.

One of every three Brown County households qualifies as ALICE.

Davis said the new offices and community spaces will help sharpen that focus in near-downtown neighborhoods and enable the United Way to deliver services and support where the people who need it live.

City East Center will serve as a "neighborhood house" for the United Way and the surrounding neighborhoods where residents can not only access a host of support services and programs, but also develop a connection with their neighbors and neighborhood.

Staff have already met with the Joannes Park Neighborhood Association and talked with residents to not only identify what services would help them most, but to secure a partner to deliver them.

NWTC is first community partner to sign up, more invites about to go out

The most common issues neighborhood residents told the organization they struggle with include economic mobility, job security, job skills, access to child care and mental health.

Davis announced Northeast Wisconsin Technical College will be City East Center's first partner to provide on-site services in the building. She said NWTC and the United Way will co-create solutions to help address some of the neighborhood's top concerns, but that invitations to collaborate will go out to dozens more community partners.

"We're very excited about the future," Davis said.

Green Bay artist's sculpture outside the United Way offices evokes the mission, goal of City East Center

One element of City East Center's design drew more than a little bit of attention from the throngs of people who attended Tuesday's ceremony: The rusted metal and mirrored public art installed outside the entrance to the Brown County United Way space.

The work by local artist Kent Hutchison is called "Steps." Other examples of Hutchison's metal artwork can be found around the Green Bay area.

The metal and mirrored rectangular forms that combine to rise in a coil or spiral up almost as high as the three-story building itself. Davis said the artwork symbolizes our individual and collective journeys as we climb higher and achieve goals.

City East Apartments aims to 'open the door to new opportunities' for Green Bay residents

Developing housing, especially housing working families can afford, can be difficult and challenging, but Marissa Downs, whose company MF Housing LLC developed and co-owns City East Apartments, said it can make quite the impact on families and the wider community.

Downs said City East Apartments can "open the door to new opportunities" for dozens of local ALICE households who often can face housing instability. The new building includes three dozen apartments at rents affordable to families that earn less than the median income.

She said the 43-unit building was fortunate to have the support of the city of Green Bay, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, the United Way and more partners to both secure the financing for the project and to help overcome a variety of challenges such as rising interest rates and rising material and labor costs.

Downs said she hopes the combination of affordable housing and on-site services the United Way will provide becomes a model of "co-location to inspire" other developers.

Most City East Apartments units have income limits

City East Apartments includes 43 one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Seven of them are available to anyone regardless of income at higher, market-rate rents. The other 36 units have one of two income restrictions on them: 50% of the area's median income or 60% of the area's median income.

To be eligible to rent the 50% median income units, an individual would need to earn less than $34,300 and a family of four would need to earn less than $44,100.

To be eligible to rent the 60% median income units, an individual would need to earn less than $41,160 and a family of four would need to earn less than $52,920. Tenants whose income qualifies them for those units will pay reduced monthly rent.

How much is rent at City East Apartments?

Unless otherwise indicated, the rent ranges below include one-, two- and three-bedroom units. For the 50% median income apartments, rents range from $837 to $1,158.

For the 60% median income apartments, rents range from $1,099 to $1,295. It does not appear there are any one-bedroom units available right now.

For the market-rate apartments, rents range from $1,450-$1495 for a two-bedroom unit. A three-bedroom, market-rate unit is available for $1,650.

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: Green Bay celebrates new 'vibrant community hub,' workforce housing