Building intended for homeless people gets a new owner

The 63 units faced turmoil when operator left

A downtown apartment building developed for people who are unhoused, which faced turmoil last year when its operator walked away, has been sold.

The 63-unit St. Anthony’s Apartments, 1004 N. 10th St., was purchased out of receivership by Historic 10th Street Residences LLC, a group led by Milwaukee developer Zuwena Cotton.

The sale price was $1.7 million, according to a new deed filed online by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

Cotton couldn’t immediately be reached Monday for information about her plans for St. Anthony’s. She also is co-developing with Cinnaire Solutions Corp. the 59-unit Historic Mitchell Residences, an affordable apartment development, at 1718 and 1747 S. 12th St.

St. Anthony’s opened in 2018 within a renovated building that opened in 1931 as St. Anthony Hospital.

Local officials praised the operator, Chicagobased nonprofit Heartland Housing Inc., for developing apartments for unhoused people and providing such services as alcohol and drug counseling and a medical clinic.

But the 2020-21 federal evictions moratorium, enacted after unemployment soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with property management issues, caused rent collections to fall short, according to Heartland Alliance Inc., which operated Heartland Housing.

Also, the Milwaukee County Housing Division denied federal rental vouchers for some of the apartments because they didn’t pass inspections. Meanwhile, police calls rose in 2022 and 2023 after Heartland failed to secure the building.

Community groups stopped providing services at St. Anthony’s because it was unsafe, police said. A 28-year-old man was fatally shot there in March 2023.

Heartland Housing walked away from its 21 properties, including five Milwaukee buildings, in May 2023 after facing an annual loss of more than $6 million.

Columbia, Maryland-based Enterprise Community Partners Inc., which helped finance St. Anthony’s, got involved in operating the building.

It hired new property management and security firms. But St. Anthony’s was only half full as of October, and it faced a possible closing.

The building was then running at a loss and needed repairs for its heating/ventilation/air conditioning system, an Enterprise Community executive said.

City and county officials said building conditions and security had greatly improved with Enterprise’s involvement.

Also, federal rental vouchers were reauthorized at St. Anthony’s.

JOVANNY HERNANDEZ/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL St. Anthony’s Apartments, which provides housing with support services for homeless people at West State and North 10th streets, has a new owner.