New Housing Benefits Residents and Community in Madison’s Hawthorne Area

New Housing Benefits Residents and Community in Madison's Hawthorne Area

Rise Madison consists of 245 units of income-limited housing built on the 6-acre site of a former commercial bakery in Madison's Hawthorne neighborhood. Photo credit: Lisa Ruth Krueger

Madison, Wisconsin, has been growing steadily. Between 2010 and 2021, Dane County, the city's home, added more than 38,000 jobs and welcomed nearly 42,000 new households yet permitted only 34,000 new housing units. This shortage of housing contributed to an increase in the median price of a home from $226,000 in 2010 to $369,000 in 2022, exceeding the overall growth rate of home values in Wisconsin, and average rents rose by 28 percent over the same period. In response, Dane County has set a goal of adding 35,300 new workforce housing units for households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) by 2040. In 2025, the opening of Rise Madison in the city's Hawthorne neighborhood helped close some of this gap, adding 245 units of income-limited housing as one of the largest government-subsidized housing developments to open in the state's history.

Project Background

Rise Madison is built on the 6-acre site of a former bakery; "Rise" refers both to the goal of uplifting the community and to the rise that yeasted dough undergoes in breadmaking. In 2021, project developer Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corporation (WHPC) began planning for the site, which had been vacant since 2019. WHPC assessed the site's potential, a process facilitated by concurrent community engagement for the creation of a new neighborhood plan for Hawthorne. To convert the site to housing, the city rezoned the area from industrial and light manufacturing to multifamily residential with light commercial while overlaying a tax increment financing (TIF) district encompassing the Rise Madison site and surrounding area. Construction began in December 2023, and the development opened in phases until the project's completion in October 2025.

Project Details

The Rise Madison development consists of four buildings. The Starling serves senior residents and features 46 apartments, a community room and fitness room for residents, and offices for a part-time social services coordinator. The coordinator primarily serves residents of the development's 12 extremely low-income (ELI) units, which rent to households earning up to 30 percent of AMI, although all Rise Madison residents are welcome to meet with the coordinator as needed.

The Verio Townhomes consists of 12 two-story townhomes, each with its own entrance. The inclusion of townhouses at Rise Madison reflects the requirements of one of the project's funding sources, reports Megan Walela, vice president of development at WHPC; at the time, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority was encouraging townhome development through its allocation process. This requirement aligned with needs that community members expressed during the engagement phase of the planning process. Each of the three-bedroom townhomes is approximately 1,400 square feet.

Hawthorne Point is a 5-story structure with 77 units, a community room, and a 5,000-square-foot commercial space that is now the home of the RCC Sexual Violence Resource Center. Finally, the Phoebe, which was the last building to open, consists of 110 units and includes a fitness room and community room.

Overall, 6 units rent to households earning up to 80 percent of AMI, 78 units rent to households earning up to 70 percent of AMI, 47 units rent to households earning up to 60 percent of AMI, 102 units rent to households earning up to 50 percent of AMI, and 12 units rent to households earning up to 30 percent of AMI. The inclusion of the ELI units reflects an objective of the City of Madison Affordable Housing Fund (one of Rise Madison's 11 funding sources) and is not a typical addition to projects that, like Rise Madison, are funded with 4 percent low-income housing tax credits, says Walela. Although the size of the site enabled the scope of the project, the mix of family units with senior housing reflected what the demand level for income-restricted units could support, Walela reports. This mix of units also mitigated risk for the developer.

The project includes several outdoor amenities, including a playground and walking loop. Photo credit: Megan Walela

A Linchpin of Community Development

Rise Madison reflects ongoing policies and efforts to address the needs of the Hawthorne neighborhood and contributes toward its continued well-being. For example, one of the city's nearby bus rapid transit (BRT) system routes offers convenient transit access to Rise Madison residents. At the same time, Rise Madison's location along the BRT corridor directly influenced RCC's decision to relocate to the development's commercial space, providing Rise Madison with a stable tenant and the stable rental income that a nonprofit developer/owner needs, says Walela. The TIF district, though established to support Rise Madison, has also benefited nearby businesses, demonstrating how government housing subsidies applied in alignment with other public policy goals can create beneficial spillover effects for economic development.

The local elementary school, which had seen declining enrollment in recent years, also has benefited from the large number of family units at Rise Madison. Finally, Hawthorne residents enjoy access to the 1.5-acre park at Rise Madison, which was added in response to community concerns that the neighborhood needed additional park space. Reflecting the multigenerational character of the development, the park includes playground equipment for children, adult exercise equipment, and a looped walking trail that lets seniors and residents of all ages enjoy outdoor activity.

Thanks to the scale of the project and collaboration among the team members, the community, and the city, Rise Madison is having a significant impact in helping Dane County achieve its housing goals and in helping the Hawthorne neighborhood thrive.