Jim Tuckwell, Kevin McDonell on Housing in the North Woods

Frederica Freyberg:
This coming weekend, Memorial Day weekend, kicks off the summer tourist season in Wisconsin. In years past, tourism hotspots have seen difficulty hiring enough workers. Part of the trouble with hiring has to do with employees finding a place to live that they can afford in these sought after areas. This week, new workforce housing units opened in Vilas County in Lac du Flambeau. The two- and three-bedroom units are very, very welcome, according to the chair of the Vilas County Economic Development Corporation, Jim Tuckwell. He joins us along with the developer, Kevin McDonell. And thanks to both of you for being here.

Kevin McDonell:
Thanks for having us.

Jim Tuckwell:
Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:
So, Jim, first to you. Why are these units so very welcome?

Jim Tuckwell:
Well, as you pointed out, Frederica, we badly need affordable housing here. Our population is skewed to older residents. We have a lot of retirees in Vilas County. And conversely, the people that are aged 20 to 34, those that would be looking for affordable housing, most likely as they’re starting out their careers. We have much fewer, like 8% fewer people in residents in that age group than the state of Wisconsin. So we really badly need units like Kevin’s to attract younger people who can join the workforce, as you pointed out.

Frederica Freyberg:
So, Kevin, tell me about this new development of apartments. They’re described as workforce housing, but also luxury, affordable, with rents ranging, I saw, from about $900 to $1200 a month. What are the units like?

Kevin McDonell:
Yeah, I mean, the units are really great. They’re all townhouse style units: individual entries, attached garages. All of the buildings have rooftop solar. And in terms of the affordability and the level, we have a wide range of residents that we’re serving. So we have market rate units, which we have actually a tremendous demand for, a huge waiting list right now. We have on the other end of the spectrum, something called 811 housing voucher units that are for folks that have some type of disability: physical, mental, emotional. There’s a number of different types of disabilities that can qualify for those units, but those units are set aside for individuals with very low incomes, 30% or less than the county median income. And then we have about 27 out of the 40 units are what we call kind of more traditional workforce housing units set aside for 50 to 60% of the Vilas County median income.

Frederica Freyberg:
Why did you decide to break ground in Lac du Flambeau?

Kevin McDonell:
So originally when we started, it was kind of the beginnings of COVID. The work from home kind of movement was starting, and we saw a lot of people moving into areas like Vilas County and thought there’d be some of that trend would continue. When we got into Vilas County and started working with Jim and the county and the local tribal members, we realized kind of how much of a need there was for the local tribal members as well. So it was kind of originally more with kind of tourism kind of economy in mind, with the kind of work from home thought. And then just the need in the area for the local tribal members is tremendous as well.

Frederica Freyberg:
Interesting. So, Jim, how will 40 new two- and three-bedroom townhomes help the affordable housing crunch in your county?

Jim Tuckwell:
Well, the key here is that this development serves not only Lac du Flambeau but also the surrounding communities. So people typically commute, you know, anywhere from 10 to 30 miles for work. And so this is going to serve a wide range of the surrounding communities.

Frederica Freyberg:
Jim, you’ve described that some people can’t take jobs that are offered to them in your region because they can’t find the housing. What are employers saying to you about that issue?

Jim Tuckwell:
Oh, we hear this and have been hearing it for a while from employers that in some cases they’ve offered and had jobs accepted. And then the individuals can’t find an affordable place to live and have to turn the job down. And others just aren’t even applying for the jobs just because, again, they can’t find a place to live in advance. It’s a very key issue. And this serves a very, very significant need for us.

Frederica Freyberg:
How rewarding is it for you to build these affordable units for folks?

Kevin McDonell:
It’s really, really rewarding. I mean, going to a grand opening or an open house where we get to see residents come in and like, the smiles on their faces is priceless.

Frederica Freyberg:
I mean, very, very high quality, very well done and very impressive. So it’s a, it’s a phenomenal development.

Frederica Freyberg:
Great. We’ll leave it there, Jim Tuckwell and Kevin McDonell, thank you so much.

Kevin McDonell:
Thank you.

Jim Tuckwell:
Thank you.