A new Madison apartment complex intended for University of Wisconsin students will be built on Broom Street, offering 1,600 beds with 165 of those beds offered for under-market affordable housing rates, according to the Cap Times.
While it is important to provide housing for students and residents in Madison amidst the housing crisis, Madison is losing much of its charm and local businesses to apartments and chains — something that will likely change the dynamic of the city in the coming years.
Just in the past year, two large-scale student apartment complexes have begun construction in downtown Madison. The Oliv building, located off of State Street, features 386 units for students with 110 beds to be leased at under-market affordable rates.
But most beds in the Oliv complex run a hefty cost. For a standard four-bedroom apartment, rent is approximately $1,035 per bed, with the price-per-bed going up steadily for two and three bedrooms and up to $1,625 for a studio apartment. Students also have the opportunity to upgrade their units from “Standard” to “VIP” or “Mansion” which offer nicer amenities, such as a private outdoor terrace and hot tub for a much higher price.
The second complex under construction, Verve Madison, is being built on the corner of Bassett and Johnson. Verve offers similar amenities to Oliv, marketing itself as a luxury apartment complex for students. At Verve, a four-bedroom starts at around $1,500 per bed and many of the Verve units are already sold out for the 2024 leasing year.
The new complex that was approved by the Madison Plan Commission would tear down multiple student houses and the Johnson House apartment complex, occupying 408 W. Johnson to 318 N. Broom Street, according to the Cap Times.
The housing developer building on this lot is Core Spaces, a Chicago-based company that is working on the Oliv building and built the Hub on Campus in Madison, another luxury student apartment building.
Multiple city staffers, the mayor and City Council members have identified the need for more student housing, according to the Cap Times. This is not surprising amidst the Madison housing crisis that has been occurring for multiple years. Since 2020, 5,600 residents have moved to the city and Madison is now one of the most expensive places in Wisconsin to rent or buy a home, according to PBS Wisconsin.
Students do play a large role in this, taking up much of the rentable housing close to campus, thus why housing developers are jumping on the opportunity to build more student housing in areas close enough to the university.
While many of these apartment complexes are necessary to bolster the amount of students and residents who need housing in Madison, they are removing a lot of the charm that makes Madison, Madison.
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Madison is known for having unique, local restaurants, cutesy small businesses that offer products for every type of person and local activities like the Dane County Farmer’s Market that focus on what Madison locals have to offer. But many of these local businesses are struggling to keep up with rising rent in Madison. Many businesses on State Street in particular have been bought out or are left empty as they were unable to afford the price of rent.
Most recently, chain restaurants have been replacing these local businesses on State Street, including the new Auntie Anne’s, Sweetgreen and Pure Green.
Local favorites like Vintage Spirits and Grill and Essen Haus in Madison are under threat, with Vintage being recently bought out by a Madison-based apartment developer and Essen Haus desired by an Eau Claire developer who wants to build a hotel and apartment complex.
The growing trend of chain restaurants and luxury apartment complexes is not seeming to slow down and this could have disastrous impacts on the city of Madison as a whole. Surely, providing housing for students and residents is a good thing, but it is coming at the cost of local businesses who are the backbone of the Madison community.
People move to Madison and love it because of how local it feels for a city — there is a pride in being a Madisonian and supporting local shops. But with the construction of chains and luxury apartment complexes, Madison is becoming like any other city, and that unique energy is slowly fading away with each local establishment that goes out of business.
To ensure the unique aspects of Madison that residents appreciate so much are saved, Madison city officials should prioritize local businesses and restaurants that have existed for decades over those apartment developers who seek to buy them out. In the long run this could be more profitable for the city as it would draw in more tourists and residents as that unique locality brings new people to Madison.
While, the construction of apartments is necessary to help alleviate the housing crisis, city officials should be more critical about where these apartments will be constructed and avoid tearing down well-loved, historic businesses to do so.
Madison should remain a city supported by small businesses and historic buildings, instead of succumbing to the luxury apartments who seek to destroy it.
Emily Otten ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism.
