MADISON – A project to create affordable housing apartments for working people above an existing Sturgeon Bay business, a passion cause of the business owners, won a $160,000 competitive loan from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.
The project would build eight single-bedroom and studio apartments in the second story of the building that houses Cherry Lanes Arcade Bar on North Fourth Avenue.
Cherry Lanes Arcade Bar in Sturgeon Bay is slated to have three studio apartments and five one-bedroom units built in its now-empty upper level as an affordable housing development for working people. Work is starting in January with the first units scheduled to open in October.
The loan comes from WHEDA’s Restore Main Street program, a competitive program that awards loans to help cover the costs to build or improve housing on the second or third floors of existing buildings with commercial space on the ground level.
Moira Callan, co-owner with Scott LeFevre of Cherry Lanes through their Cherry Lanes Real Estate, LLC, said the plan is to create three studio apartments and five one-bedroom units within the 7,500-square-foot upper level of the building. When it was built in 1929, the upstairs was a ballroom that hosted boxing cards, musical performances and other events, but it’s currently empty space.
Callan owns and manages eight apartment complexes of about 50 units in northeastern Wisconsin, mainly in communities with populations fewer than 10,000, while LeFevre owns and manages five apartment buildings of two to eight units, all falling into the “affordable” category – defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as having rent or mortgage payments (including utilities) that are 30% of the household’s gross income – and two short-term rentals in Door County. Both have extensive experience rehabilitating their properties, and Callan said the values of her properties have increased by 90% since she acquired them.
Callan said she and LeFevre came together for this project because of a joint desire to bring affordable, long-term housing for workers to downtown Sturgeon Bay. It’s a passion of hers to increase the amount of affordable housing for working people and families, an area of great need in Door County and many other places across the country.
To that end, Callan said these new apartments will be targeted toward shipyard and industrial workers in Sturgeon Bay, such as employees at nearby Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, which is within a short walk of Cherry Lanes. In fact, she said the idea of making use of the empty second story was a reason she and LeFevre bought Cherry Lanes in January of 2024.
“It’s definitely because of the need I’ve seen for industries to continue to grow, for housing for the people who work there,” she said.
Callan expects rates for rent will be between $800 and $950 a month, based on targeting renters with incomes of 80% of the median Door County income. The housing will be for permanent residents, not seasonal workers, with renters signing one-year leases to start.
Work is expected to start in January, and Callan hopes the first units, if not all of them, will be ready to be occupied by October.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $645,300. Along with the $160,000 WHEDA loan, Callan said the project is approved for $250,000 from Door County’s Workforce Housing Lending Corp. and a bank loan to cover the rest of the costs. Callan said profits from the bowling lanes and arcade will help pay for the development.
“All the profits from Cherry Lanes are going upstairs,” Callan said. “Every time a patron comes in to bowl, every time they play a game, every time they buy a beer, it all goes (to the housing development).”
All told, in its Dec. 18 announcement, WHEDA announced a total of more than $9.3 million in competitive loans for nine developments to create 485 affordable housing units across the state for the fall 2024 application cycle of three different programs including Restore Main Street.
The Cherry Lanes loan was one of two made under Restore Main Street, which also awarded $40,000 to the Suites on Villard project in Milwaukee for two affordable units.
WHEDA also awarded $4 million in loans through its Vacancy-to-Vitality program to four projects in Milwaukee and Dane counties and more than $5 million through its Infrastructure Access program for projects in Sawyer, Sheboygan and Dane counties.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County bowling alley/arcade wins $160K loan for affordable housing