A 24-unit apartment building – which also might house an existing neighborhood farmers market – is being proposed for the corner of W. Mitchell St. and S. Muskego Ave. on Milwaukee’s south side.

The four-story building, dubbed Mitchell Street Market Lofts, would include 2,000 square feet of street-level commercial space and an indoor parking garage. The two- and three-bedroom units would range from about 1,100 to 1,600 square feet, according to the Department of City Development.

The project developer is Mitchell Street Market Lofts LLC, a group that will be formed primarily by Tina Anderson, Orlando Neal and Sherry Terrell-Webb, who are graduates of Marquette University’s Associates in Commercial Real Estate program.

Other owners include Robert Lemke, an instructor in the Marquette program, and Todd Hutchison, both principals in Wisconsin Redevelopment LLC.

Most recently, the site has been used for the seasonal Mitchell Street Farmers Market, operated by Growing Power, a nonprofit urban farm headed by Will Allen.

The developers have been talking with Growing Power about having the market continue to operate at the site, Lemke said. The market could move indoors and use part of the development’s commercial space, with farmers selling their products throughout the year, he said.

Finding a new home for the market, which has been operating for several years, is important, said Ald. Jim Witkowiak, whose district includes the site.

He said having a new development and keeping the market at the same location would be “the best of both worlds.” A Growing Power official couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. The $5.5 million development would be financed in part through federal affordable housing tax credits. The credits are allocated through a competitive process by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

Developers that receive credits sell them to raise equity financing, which is then used to obtain a construction loan.  In return for using the credits, developers must lease apartments at below-market rents to people earning no more than 60% of the community’s median income. For a two-person household in Milwaukee, that maximum income is $32,520, with the limits increasing as the household size increases.

The development site consists of vacant lots, totaling 24,500 square feet, which the city would sell for $110,250. The Redevelopment Authority’s board on Thursday will consider providing a purchase option to the developers.

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