In a 13-6 vote, Madison’s Common Council rejected a development proposal that would have added luxury student apartments downtown at a meeting June 20. The proposal was previously approved by the Madison Plan Commission.
Core Spaces, a developer based in Chicago that worked to develop other properties in Madison — including The James and The Hub — proposed the building of a 12-story tower that would add 232 luxury student apartments.
Under the proposal, affordable rental units at 437-445 W. Johnson St., 430-444 W. Dayton St. and 215-221 N. Bassett St. would be demolished. District 8 Alder and University of Wisconsin student MGR Govindarajan voted against the proposal, due to the displacement of students it would cause.
“My vote was not because of affordable housing,” Govindarajan said. “It was because of the displacement of students. The Core Spaces proposal would essentially bring in over 200 new housing units, but would get rid of about 140 beds total that are already in the same location, and they are more affordable by a lot.”
The Campus Area Neighborhood Association issued a survey to the residents of the buildings that would be demolished, and many of the responses indicated concerns about being able to find affordable housing as a replacement, according to Govindarajan.
Some students even expressed concerns about going homeless if their building was demolished, Govindarajan said.
“That’s what really caught my eye,” Govindarajan said. “I didn’t want to create an inequity by forcing lower income students to move out just to give wealthier students more options for housing.”
Govindarajan said he was surprised by the 13-6 vote that rejected the proposal, stating that this signified a “real win” for students in regards to affordable housing.
Prior to and following the vote, students voiced their opinions regarding the proposal, as well as the need for affordable housing more broadly through multiple surveys, as well as by emailing alders.
Govindarajan encourages students to speak — in-person or via Zoom — during the public forum at the upcoming July 11 Common Council meeting.
“Let City Council know how you feel about this because emails are really helpful, but showing up and speaking about it really makes a difference to alders and, hopefully, it keeps the vote the way it’s supposed to be,” Govindarajan said.
Govindarajan emphasized that while this one proposal was not approved, other proposals are likely to be reviewed by the City Council moving forward.
Student input is critical to ensuring the needs of students are met, according to Govindarajan.
“Madison needs more housing, we are in a housing crisis,” Govindarajan said. “And the way to fix that is more housing, so I don’t want to restrict the supply of housing or anything, but we need to focus on the type of housing that students are asking for as well.”
