State and local leaders praise Garden Terrace project

A few dozen new apartments will open soon in north La Crosse, next to the Kane Street garden.

The Garden Terrace development is aimed at providing affordable housing, especially for veterans who have been homeless for a time.

The chief operating officer at the state agency Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), Brian Schimming, said at the groundbreaking Tuesday, the La Crosse project had to be good to qualify for certain housing credits.

“Demand outweighs the supply and that means when we award credits, we award them to those projects that add the most to the community,” Schimming said. “Truly only the best of the best gets awards.”

WHEDA has arranged for nearly $7 million dollars in funding for Garden Terrace over a 10-year period.

The facility will feature 50 units to help meet the demand for reduced-income housing. Schimming said he often hears people around the state say they need more housing that’s affordable.

“It is an issue,” he said. “It’s a permanent issue. And while we are blessed to have so many good things going on in the economy, the fact of the matter is, a lot of folks don’t have shelter or don’t have a good place to live.”

WHEDA says residents at Garden Terrace are expected to save $200,000 a year in housing costs, because the new units will be at affordable rental rates instead of regular market value.