Madison staff say city is about halfway to 15,000-home target as affordable-unit work continues

Madison 'Staff said the city is roughly halfway to its 15,000-homes-by-2030 Housing Forward goal, but officials warned a mix of financing and zoning changes will be required to meet the target.

"We established a goal to create 15,000 new homes by 2030," said Matt Wachter, director of the Department of Planning, Community, and Economic Development, noting the city is using a combination of zoning reform, tax-increment financing and direct development tools. "Since 01/01/2025, 2,800 new homes have been completed, and there are another 4,739 under construction," he said, citing the city's new housing tracker.

Why it matters: The city's tracker and the department's presentation show supply growth concentrated in larger multifamily projects and in the transit-oriented development (TOD) overlay; at the same time, staff said about a quarter of the Housing Forward goal is intended to provide permanently affordable units and that achieving those units requires stacking federal tax credits, TIF and local Affordable Housing Fund dollars.

What staff presented: Wachter and planning staff described how 2025 code changes made more housing types allowable by right (for example, allowing two units in many residential districts, expanding accessory-dwelling-unit allowances and creating a cottage-court housing type) and how those reforms reduce the need for conditional-use review or other discretionary processes. On financing, Wachter outlined tools the city uses most often: tax-increment financing and the Affordable Housing Fund, and he described the CDA's role in land acquisition and development.

Examples and trade-offs: Wachter reviewed three development approaches the city has used recently. At Teresa Terrace the CDA redeveloped obsolete duplexes and preserved six affordable homes; on Park Street staff land-banked a site and partnered with a developer to build housing targeted at youth aging out of foster care; and at larger, mixed sites the city sometimes pre-buys lots to make the economics viable for homeownership or missing-middle projects. Wachter cautioned smaller-scale, 3''to-6-unit projects can be nearly as complex and costly to build as much larger buildings because of building-code and financing hurdles.

Data snapshot and affordability context: Planner Colin presented the 2025 Housing Snapshot, which shows Madison remains renter-majority, with about one-third of all households cost-burdened. "About half of renters are cost-burdened," Colin said, adding that a sizeable portion of households at both low and high ends of the income distribution outstrip the homes available to them, which compresses the middle market.

Federal vouchers vs. income-restricted units: Commissioners asked staff to clarify the difference between Section 8 tenant-based vouchers and rent-restricted units created by local funding or tax credits. Colin and Megan said vouchers help households cover market rents up to program limits (the voucher pays the gap beyond 30% of household income), while income-restricted units carry covenants that cap rents at levels tied to area median income (for example, 60% AMI). Staff noted that vouchers can be used in many market-rate units subject to program rules, whereas restricted units are contractual commitments on a property.

Next steps and monitoring: Staff pointed to the housing tracker on the Planning, Community & Economic Development website and said they will continue to refine data on units in the pipeline and on outcomes such as the share of new units that are permanently affordable. Wachter said the city remains focused on using land-banking and targeted subsidy where outside financing does not close the affordability gap.

The Plan Commission had no formal vote on these updates; staff invited follow-up requests for more breakdowns (for example, vacancy by AMI and unit bedroom mix).