$3 Million Donation by Northwestern Mutual Funds Partnership to Build 94 Homes in Amani, Supporting CDA Tax Incremental Financing Plan Is a Partnership with Amani United, Dominican Center for Women, Emem Group, Ezekiel Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Milwaukee Community Crossroads and Milwaukee County Land Trust

MILWAUKEE (April 14, 2026) – A plan to build 94 new affordable homes in the Amani neighborhood on the city’s North Side received a huge boost today when Northwestern Mutual committed $3 million over the next three years.

The donation helps close the funding gap on the Amani project and coincides with the Community Development Alliance (CDA) filing plans with Milwaukee’s Department of City Development seeking $3.6 million in tax incremental financing to help fund construction.

Northwestern Mutual is one of CDA’s original and largest donors. The company is supporting construction of 500 affordable homes in Milwaukee by 2030, in collaboration with local non-profit partners. 

The Amani project, which CDA calls a “Coordinated Backbone Tax Incremental District,” comprises vacant properties scattered in an area bounded by W. Meinecke Avenue on the north, N. 17th Street on the east, W. Burleigh on the south and N. 25th Street on the west.

CDA is working with the Dominican Center for Women, neighborhood group Amani United, Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity and Emem Group to build most of the homes. Habitat will build 50 homes to be sold to homeowners in the northern half of the TID with Emem building 40 homes in the southern half. Developer Michael Emem is seeking state-issued low-income housing tax credits to fund construction. He would rent the homes to households making at or below 50 percent of the median income for 15 years, and then sell the homes at affordable prices. Milwaukee Community Crossroads will build three homes and Ezekiel Hope plans to build one home, all in the northern part of the TID.  As part of the Amani Homeownership Initiative, the Milwaukee Community Land Trust plans to convert a small number of the newly constructed homes to its land trust model.

“These homes are part of the Fond du Lac and North Avenue Area Plan adopted by the Department of City Development and approved by the Common Council six years ago,” noted Whaley-Smith. “The Amani TID is the direct result of what residents want and we’re excited to make that plan a reality. Building homes affordable to neighborhood families will both allow them to stay or enable those who may have been displaced by abandoned properties to return. We are very appreciative of all of our project partners and the generosity of Northwestern Mutual.”

Tax incremental financing has been used by the City of Milwaukee and other municipalities since the mid 1970s to leverage private development investment. The City provides upfront funding that is paid back through property taxes on the improved property within the project’s borders (called a Tax Increment District or TID). Once all the project costs are repaid, the district is terminated and property taxes go to taxing authorities (City, Schools, County, MMSD). State statute allows up to 27 years to pay off all TID costs. The City of Milwaukee says the average payback period is approximately 18 years.

Tax incremental financing is a development tool that is often used for large commercial development projects. The Amani TID puts a twist on this strategy by using it in some of the city’s neediest neighborhoods to build homes that are affordable, allowing more Milwaukee residents to become homeowners.

Milwaukee has created more than 120 TIDs during the past 50 years. High-profile projects including Northwestern Mutual’s headquarters skyscraper, Fiserv Forum, Reed Street Yards in Walker’s Point, Century City business parks, the Riverwalk, South 5th Street reconstruction and the Bronzeville corridor were constructed with TIDs.

The Amani TID is CDA’s third. A 2024 TID helped fund 74 homes in the Midtown neighborhood that are being completed and residents have begun moving in. Last year, a TID in the Harambee neighborhood was approved to build 59 homes. Those homes will be completed within the next two years.

The Amani TID will be vetted during the next several months with several public hearings. If approved by the full Common Council and the Mayor, construction could begin later this year.

About the Community Development Alliance (CDA):

At the CDA, we believe that homeownership is a catalyst for dismantling systemic racism and building strong communities. That’s why our work as accomplices with the community is centered on people and policy. By working collaboratively, we invest in neighborhoods, providing access to quality homes for Milwaukee families and nurturing capacity for Black and Brown families to build generational wealth. Learn more at https://www.housingplan.org.