MILWAUKEE — The city of Milwaukee is selling 100 foreclosed homes in the greater Sherman Park neighborhood on the city’s northwest side for $1, and is offering $10,000 in grants per house to developers that rebuild the properties.
About $1 million in grant funding from the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions will pay for the program.
“You’ll get the house for a dollar, and the requirement is that you have to hire from the community,” said Russell Stamper, Milwaukee’s 15th District alderman.
According to the Milwaukee Business News, the neighborhood has high levels of unemployment that the funding will help address as the Milwaukee Employment/Renovation Initiative. Developers will be required to purchase five or more of the foreclosed properties, and must hire at least one unemployed or underemployed person for each house renovation to qualify for the grants.
Another $1 million in state funding will help the city address blighted properties in the neighborhood, which is still reeling from an officer-involved shooting that sparked riots last summer.
