Apartments planned near Northridge have council review delayed with talks between developer, opponent

A Common Council review of the Cudahy Farms Healthy Living Campus development plan has been delayed until July 31.

An apartment community planned near Milwaukee's former Northridge Mall had its Common Council review delayed for two weeks during discussions between the developer and a council member opposed to it.

Cudahy Farms Healthy Living Campus is planned for a 50-acre former YMCA property east of North Swan Road and south of West Fairy Chasm Road. It's being proposed by Royal Capital Group Ltd.

Cudahy Farms' $56.9 million first phase calls for 212 apartments, ranging from one to three bedrooms — with 100 smaller units reserved for seniors and the larger units targeting families with children. It would be on 22 acres.

Royal Capital's financing package includes affordable housing tax credits. In return, it would provide apartments at below-market rents, initially ranging from $600 to $2,300 monthly, for households earning from 30% to 80% of the local median income.

Also, a tax incremental financing district would use Cudahy Farms' property tax revenue to make annual payments to Royal Capital totaling $3.7 million. The financing district also would pay $2.1 million of interest costs.

The Common Council on July 15 was to review both the development's zoning as well as the proposed TIF district. The council voted to delay acting until its July 31 meeting.

That hold was proposed by Alderwoman Larresa Taylor, whose district includes the site and who opposes the project. Taylor told her colleagues she needed time to work on some compromises with Royal Capital.

Taylor told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she's working on ways to make Cudahy Farms more palatable to nearby homeowners who are fighting the development. She said she'll still vote against the project if residents remain opposed.

Taylor wants Royal Capital to provide more details on its plans for security, property management and programming at Cudahy Farms.

That final point concerns whether recreational programs and other activities will be available to community members who aren't Cudahy Farms residents, she said.

Royal Capital President and CEO Kevin Newell said the firm will continue to be collaborative. Newell said he hopes those efforts will be recognized by the council at the July 31 meeting.

Neighborhood opponents say the loss of woodlands at the site would harm an important environmental area.

They also worry Cudahy Farms could end up like the nearby Woodlands lower-income housing community — which the Milwaukee Police Department considers a crime "hot spot."

In response, Royal Capital is providing cars access to Cudahy Farms from Fairy Chasm Road, with the Swan Road gate near Woodlands to be opened only for police, fire and other emergency vehicles.

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Also, the site's wetlands wouldn't be disturbed by construction, with a landscaped buffer being added between the development and houses east of Cudahy Farms.

Both the zoning change and TIF district were recommended for approval by the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee on 3-2 votes.

Development Commissioner Lafayette Crump says Cudahy Farms would provide badly need affordable apartments within an area "starved for investment" more than 20 years after nearby Northridge Mall's closing.

Royal Capital hopes to begin first phase construction in 2025, with completion by the end of 2026.

Meanwhile, the city has plans pending for development to replace Northridge − which the city is demolishing.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at [email protected] and followed on Instagram, Bluesky, X and Facebook.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Apartments planned near Northridge Mall have council review delayed