Healthy Housing
Safe and Affordable Homes for Human Beings
Our housing work strengthens one of the most basic foundations of health and stability. Safe, healthy, affordable housing can reduce disruption, support family continuity, and create more room for people to manage work, school, caregiving, and daily life. Strong resident relationships matter here as well. Housing is about more than buildings. It is also about whether people can remain rooted and supported.
Homes We Own & Manage
Common Wealth Development develops, owns, and manages 180 affordable apartments for low- to moderate-income residents across two primary neighborhoods. There are 133 apartments woven throughout the Williamson-Marquette Neighborhood on Madison’s east side, and 44 apartments in the Meadowood Neighborhood on Madison’s southwest side. Homes range from studios (efficiencies) to three-bedroom apartments, so households of many shapes and sizes can find a place that fits.
We manage our housing with residents' health, safety, and well-being at the center — and that starts before anyone moves in. Our screening criteria are intentionally more flexible and less restrictive than what most applicants encounter elsewhere, because we believe a past setback shouldn't stand between a person and a stable home. Once residents move in, our goal is simple: we want them to be able to stay. Long-term stability, not turnover, is the measure we care about most.
Partnership with The Road Home
In 2023, we joined with The Road Home to manage 15 additional apartments in the Meadowood Neighborhood as part of their Housing & Hope program, which provides permanent, supportive housing for families with children. Residents pay rent based on what they earn, set at 30% of their income, and a full-time, on-site case manager works alongside each household with the support they need to thrive. These two buildings sit on Balsam Road, neighboring our other Meadowood apartments.
This partnership has been an amazing opportunity to expand our mission with another organization and continue growing the community in the Meadowood neighborhood. We are very excited to get to work with The Road Home and the residents in their community and feel privileged to have been entrusted with such a valuable and crucial program.
A Path to Owning a Home
Our work isn't finished. We're actively developing new projects to bring more affordable homes to Madison and Dane County, shaped by long-standing relationships in the neighborhoods we serve and guided by what residents tell us they need. We bring our expertise in community development, social equity, and responsible land use to all of our projects.
Building What’s Next
Renting isn't the only way we help people put down roots. Through our Lease-Purchase program, low- to moderate-income, first-time homebuyers can rent a home with the option to buy it, and while they rent, a portion of each month's payment is set aside toward their future down payment.
“Common Wealth actually cares about their tenants. They’re always so great with helping in any situation. I love Common Wealth!
- Common Wealth Housing Resident
