The Freeman - 02/14/2018 Page : A01

Copyright © 2018 Conley Group. All rights reserved 02/14/2018February 14, 2018 6:45 pm (GMT +6:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

Copy Reduced to 70% from original to fit letter page

housesready3 more

to go7Habitat for Humanity making

headway on White Rock project

Cara Spoto/Freeman Staff

A single-family home at 1135 White Rock Ave., newly built by Habitat for Humanity ofWaukesha County volunteers. While the nonprofit wraps up its work on the home, andtwo other properties across the street, it has plans to rehab three other properties andconstruct four more new homes in the neighborhood.

By Cara Spotocspoto@conleynet.com

262-513-2653

WAUKESHA — Withthree houses ready for fam-ilies, and plans to startwork on seven new con-struction and rehab pro-jects this spring, Habitatfor Humanity’s revitaliza-tion of White Rock Avenueis beginning to take shape.

Habitat for Humanity ofWaukesha County beganthe comprehensive redevel-opment project last springwhen it broke ground onthe construction of twonew homes at 1120 and 1124White Rock Ave. Todaythose homes are gettingprepped for their new own-ers, as is a third homeacross the street at 1135White Rock.

This spring, the nonprof-it and its volunteers areslated to start constructionon four more new homes,roughly located at 1090 and1092 White Rock Ave. and1123 and 1129 White RockAve. At the same time othercrews will be working onrehabilitating existinghomes at 1027, 1116 and1126 White Rock Ave.

“At the end of the daythese are going to be nice-looking, owner-occupiedhomes,” Habitat’s Execu-tive Director DianeMcGeen said. “When youhave people who own thehouses, the whole fabric ofthe neighborhood is goingto change.”

In addition to providinghardworking families withhomes of their own, thenonprofit is hoping the pro-ject will change the lookand appeal of White Rock

Avenue.“White Rock is a gateway

into the city of Waukesha.It is the first impressionpeople have of Waukesha,especially if they start atFrame Park,” McGeensaid. “Now, as people driveinto town there is a niceneighborhood. It just need-ed doing so badly.”

Habitat of Humanity ofWaukesha County has nottaken a position on a pro-posal to construct a $4.5million amateur baseballstadium at Frame Park, butMcGeen said the “wholearea, from Moreland ondown, is ripe for redevelop-ment.”

Call to aspiring homeowners

As it looks forward tospring and the projects itwill be tackling then, thenonprofit wants to hearfrom qualified familiesinterested in purchasing

Two single-family homes at 1120 and 1124 White RockAve., newly built by Habitat for Humanity of WaukeshaCounty volunteers, sit ready for qualified buyers on Tues-day afternoon.

White Rock revitalization properties Finished, or nearly finished new homes■ 1120 White Rock Ave.■ 1124 White Rock Ave.■ 1135 White Rock Ave.

Houses slated for rehabilitation ■ 1027 White Rock Ave.■ 1116 White Rock Ave.■ 1126 White Rock Ave.

Vacant parcels slated fornew homes■ 1090 White Rock Ave.* ■ 1092 White Rock Ave.*■ 1123 White Rock Ave.■ 1129 White Rock Ave.

*Actual house number couldbe different. Homes will bebuilt on the site where aduplex was razed.

Source: Habitat for Humanity ofWaukesha County See HABITAT, PAGE 8A

The Freeman - 02/14/2018 Page : A08

Copyright © 2018 Conley Group. All rights reserved 02/14/2018February 14, 2018 6:46 pm (GMT +6:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

HabitatFrom Page 1A

one of the newly rehabili-tated or constructed homes.

To qualify, a family musthave enough income to pur-chase the property, but beat 80 percent or less of themedian household incomefor Waukesha, which isabout $57,000 for a family offour, McGeen said.

“If you’re a family of fiveyou can make up to $60,000.If you make less than $30,000a year you probably can’tafford the taxes,” she added.

With that said, Habitatwill work with qualifiedfamilies to ensure thattheir monthly house pay-ment, including taxes andinsurance, will not eat upmore than 30 percent oftheir monthly income.

Families interested insubmitting an applicationcan visit www.habitat-

waukesha.org or call 262-309-6025.

Cara Spoto/Freeman Staff

A Habitat for Humanity of Waukesha County sign on a snowylot in the 1100 block of White Rock Avenue on Tuesday after-noon. The land is one of four parcels where the nonprofitplans to construct new homes this year.