Carolyn Fath
Union Corners developer Gorman & Co. says a newly proposed senior housing facility aimed at "grandfamilies" is a good fit for the area, which includes a UW Health clinic (pictured), retail and grocery.
After more than two years of planning and negotiation, Union Corners developer Gorman & Co. has split with a group seeking to bring a cohousing community to the city’s east side. Instead, the developer is proposing a 50-unit senior housing complex aimed at “grandfamilies,” or grandparents raising their grandchildren.
Ted Matkom, Gorman’s Wisconsin market president, spoke highly of the cohousing group and their mission, but he says the project “didn’t fit within [Gorman’s] timeframe for the option period of the land.” The cohousing project is essentially a condominium development, he explains, and if the units failed to sell, Gorman would be unable to attempt another project on that land.
“We just kind of ran out of time,” Matkom says.
The group formerly known as Union Corners Cohousing has since rebranded as CohoMadison and is in the process of securing a new site for the community somewhere on the city’s east side, project manager Greg Rosenberg says. The group is planning to announce its new location this Sunday at the Willy Street Fair.
The Union Corners grandfamily housing development appears to be the first of its kind in Madison, but Matkom says there’s considerable demand for this kind of living arrangement, both locally and throughout the state. Gorman built its first grandfamily development in Milwaukee in 2010: Villard Square, a 47-unit complex with supportive services. The development has been well received, Matkom says.
“There is a lot of need in that community for camaraderie,” he continues. “What we’ve created in Milwaukee is a bunch of grandfamilies that have literally never moved since it was built in 2010.”
In Wisconsin, there are more than 25,000 documented grandfamilies, and within the Wisconsin foster system, 34 percent of children are being raised by relatives or grandparents. In Madison, 680 children under the age of 18 live in a home where the grandparents are the household heads, according to 2010 census data. Of these, 553 children live in homes where the grandparents are responsible for them.
“We’re doing a market study research to formalize [our proposal], but we’ve talked to several grandfamily-type network support groups,” Matkom says. “They’ve actually contacted us to say, ‘Please think of this type of housing.’”
Grandparents raising grandchildren are generally a bit younger than the typical senior housing demographic, so the Union Corners development is aimed at individuals 55 and older, many of whom are still working. And instead of offering traditional assisted-living services, the facility will focus more on intergenerational programming and support. Gorman has tapped Lutheran Social Services to provide wraparound services for both children and older adults. Examples include financial literacy, job training and caregiver trainings.
Matkom says the Union Corners area is an ideal location for grandfamilies, citing the close proximity of the UW Health clinic, child care opportunities at the future Red Caboose location and planned retail.
An organic grocery store, Fresh Thyme Market, was initially slated for the site, but Matkom says negotiations fell through — “they couldn’t make the numbers work.” Matkom is in discussion with a few other grocers who are interested in the site. He can’t divulge which ones yet, but he’s confident the neighborhood will approve.
“I guarantee the [grocery stores] we’re talking to, people will like,” he says.
Matkom also praised the neighborhood advocates who have helped shape the vision for the Union Corners development.
“It’s not always easy being a developer in those neighborhoods, because people care so much,” he says. “But in the end, the project is that much better because of it.”