Wisconsin State Journal
Alexis London
At Madison's renewed Bayview complex, the end ...

Jacob Washington's brand-new townhouse at Bayview is unlike anywhere else he has lived.

Washington, his wife and their three young children shared a single room at a family shelter before the townhouse became available at the Downtown low-income housing complex this fall. Now they have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and far more space to themselves.

"Coming from a shelter, locked up in that room, my kids are joyous," Washington said. "The poverty forced my kids to age," he said. At Bayview, they’re free to be kids again.

But what stands out most to Washington isn't Bayview's facilities. What really feels different, he said, is the community.

"People want to be involved here," Washington said. "It's not some type of place where people are trying to get rent from you and don't care about you. They build and work every day for the kids’ sake. They really do. And that’s amazing to me because, literally, I never had this in my life."

At Madison's renewed Bayview complex, the end of construction marks another beginning
Wisconsin State Journal
Alexis London
New Bayview community center takes novel ...

The community center at the heart of the Bayview affordable housing redevelopment on “the Triangle” Downtown has opened its doors to the public.

Bright and airy, with big windows and a beachy blue-and-tan color scheme, the $9 million, 11,500-square-foot center was created by and for the people who live there as part of the second phase of the Bayview Foundation’s $60 million affordable housing redevelopment. The foundation is now turning to the third and final phase of the project, which will add a playground, more green space and the last 44 of the development’s 130 total housing units. The expansion is aimed at low-income families who do not currently live at Bayview and is scheduled for completion in February.

At Madison's renewed Bayview complex, the end of construction marks another beginning

At Madison's renewed Bayview complex, the end of construction marks another beginning

Jacob Washington's brand-new townhouse at Bayview is unlike anywhere else he has lived.

Washington, his wife and their three young children shared a single room at a family shelter before the townhouse became available at the Downtown low-income housing complex this fall. Now they have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and far more space to themselves.

"Coming from a shelter, locked up in that room, my kids are joyous," Washington said. "The poverty forced my kids to age," he said. At Bayview, they’re free to be kids again.

But what stands out most to Washington isn't Bayview's facilities. What really feels different, he said, is the community.

"People want to be involved here," Washington said. "It's not some type of place where people are trying to get rent from you and don't care about you. They build and work every day for the kids’ sake. They really do. And that’s amazing to me because, literally, I never had this in my life."

New Bayview community center takes novel low-income development strategy public

The community center at the heart of the Bayview affordable housing redevelopment on “the Triangle” Downtown has opened its doors to the public.

Bright and airy, with big windows and a beachy blue-and-tan color scheme, the $9 million, 11,500-square-foot center was created by and for the people who live there as part of the second phase of the Bayview Foundation’s $60 million affordable housing redevelopment. The foundation is now turning to the third and final phase of the project, which will add a playground, more green space and the last 44 of the development’s 130 total housing units. The expansion is aimed at low-income families who do not currently live at Bayview and is scheduled for completion in February.

Bayview development emerges as a bold model for low-income housing in Madison

Once only a vision, the Bayview Foundation's $58 million redevelopment on the "The Triangle" Downtown is rising, embraced as a new home for its diverse, low-income residents and as a head-turning model for Madison.

A year ago, Bayview moved some of its residents from its 102 obsolete townhouses to an eye-catching, orangey-red, four-story building with 48 units and top floor community room at the corner of West Washington Avenue and Regent Street.

Now, the nonprofit foundation is completing an 11,500-square-foot community center — the heartbeat of Bayview — that will more than double the size of the existing worn one and open in January. There are also a 25-unit apartment building and six- and seven-unit townhouses in a bold array of colors, with residents moving in this month.

A community effort brings a new community mural, “Hope Finds a Home,” to Bayview Apartments

Bayview Townhomes, one of the most diverse communities in Madison, is now also home to a massive mural that features ideas and actual bits of painting from 120 of those tenants.

The artwork is titled “Hope Finds a Home” and is on the Regent Street-facing side of a new apartment building at 720 W. Washington Ave. It's the first in a series of public art projects that will be featured at Bayview Townhomes across from Brittingham Park on Madison’s south side.

Giant Bayview Townhomes mural took a village effort

Bayview Townhomes, one of the most diverse communities in Madison, is now also home to a massive mural that features ideas and actual bits of painting from 120 of those tenants.

The artwork is titled “Hope Finds a Home” and is on the Regent Street-facing side of a new apartment building at 720 W. Washington Ave. It's the first in a series of public art projects that will be featured at Bayview Townhomes across from Brittingham Park on Madison’s south side.

Opinion | Funding boosts children and youth programs at neighborhood centers

When Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway visited Kennedy Heights Community Center this summer, Sedrick, age 7, joyfully attending summer classes there, told her he was going to be a mayor someday.

So we can add “encouraging big dreams” to the list of essential services Neighborhood Centers provide.

Neighborhood Centers throughout Madison operate in the heart, and as the heart, of some of the city’s most challenged neighborhoods. We have come together as a coalition to heighten awareness of the effectiveness of our services, speak with a unified voice about the challenges we face, and advocate for more investment in, and support for, the work we do.

Alexis London aims to get it right

Alexis London aims to get it right

Bayview, and the greater Triangle Neighborhood, were haunted by an ill-conceived 1960s low-income housing effort that razed homes and displaced hundreds of immigrant families in the name of “urban renewal.”

It was paramount that that not happen again.

Fortunately, in London, Bayview had chosen a leader singularly well equipped to make sure it didn’t.

Jeffrey Clay Erlanger Civility in Public Discourse Award Winner is Alexis London

Jeffrey Clay Erlanger Civility in Public Discourse Award Winner is Alexis London

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway announced today that Alexis London is the recipient of the 2022 Jeffrey Clay Erlanger Civility in Public Discourse Award.
 
The award was created by the Common Council to honor Madison residents who exemplify Jeff
Erlanger’s model of fairness, openness, and civility in public discourse.  Jeff, who passed away in 2007, was committed to public service.  He understood that through civil debate and effective representation, those with varying opinions could come together on how to solve issues within the community.  Mr. Erlanger served on the City of Madison’s Economic Development Commission and chaired the Commission on People with Disabilities as well as the Board of Directors of the Community Living Alliance.  
 
This year’s winner, Alexis London, is the Executive Director of the Bayview Foundation and is leading the redevelopment of the Bayview Foundation’s affordable housing micro-neighborhood.

Bayview's diverse residents settle into new homes as part of $54 million development

Bayview's diverse residents settle into new homes as part of $54 million development

On a crisp late November day, sunlight streams through the windows in Mai Kommavang’s spacious new apartment that’s part of the first phase of a $54 million redevelopment of a diverse, international, low-income community Downtown.

Kommavang was among the first to move from one of the Bayview Foundation’s 102 now-obsolete townhouses built in 1971 to an unmistakable, orangey-red, four-story building with 48 units and top-floor community room at the corner of West Washington Avenue and Regent Street, each unit featuring high ceilings, open floor plans, ample windows, new appliances and more.

Lack of units in Madison, ever-growing population results in racial disparities in housing

Lack of units in Madison, ever-growing population results in racial disparities in housing

As housing and rent prices continue to rise in Madison, design justice may be the key to affordable housing progress.

Organizations like the Bayview Foundation, a group that focuses on affordable housing with design justice based in Madison, strive to address the overlapping issue of affordable housing and the lack of supply for housing needs and demands—one solution being design justice. The goal is to connect marginalized communities with resources to address structural inequality in areas like housing.

Madison Public Market, Black Business Hub among biggest winners in latest round of COVID relief spending

Madison Public Market, Black Business Hub among biggest winners in latest round of COVID relief spending

Madison and Dane County will get nearly $21 million to invest in local initiatives to boost disadvantaged communities, including the final capital funding piece for the long-sought Madison Public Market on the East Side, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday.

The funding is part of Evers' program that uses federal COVID-19 relief funds.

The city is getting $6 million, including $2 million for the Bayview Foundation's $52 million redevelopment of its diverse, international, low-income community at the corner of West Washington Avenue and Regent Street Downtown, and $4 million for the $16.5 million Public Market to be forged from a city-owned building at 200 N. First St.

Bayview Foundation quickly tops initial fundraising for $52 million redevelopment

Bayview Foundation quickly tops initial fundraising for $52 million redevelopment

In less than a year, the Bayview Foundation has exceeded its $4 million capital campaign goal to help fund a $52 million redevelopment of its diverse, international, low-income Downtown community into what many hope will become one of the most desirable places to live in Madison.

New Bayview community center boosted by $150K grant

New Bayview community center boosted by $150K grant

Plans for a new community center in Bayview received a $150,000 boost from the Madison Community Foundation on Tuesday. The funds will go toward the nearly 12,000 square foot community center that the Bayview Foundation is constructing on the site of Bayview Townhomes, across from Brittingham Park at 601 Bay View Drive.

Redevelopment of Bayview Affordable Housing Community Builds on Decades of Success

Redevelopment of Bayview Affordable Housing Community Builds on Decades of Success

The Wisconsin State Journal sees its potential as “one of the coolest places to live” in Madison. WHEDA’s Assistant Deputy Secretary called it a “model” for how safe, affordable housing and services can be provided. And Dane County Executive Joe Parisi noted that it shows development can be “done with communities as opposed to something done to them.”


Opinion | Bayview renovation the next phase for a successful community

Opinion | Bayview renovation the next phase for a successful community

My longtime friend Salli Martyniak, who has this habit of getting involved in causes that she believes truly make a difference to Madison's future, invited me recently to tour Bayview, the showcase affordable housing community located in the city's historic Triangle Neighborhood bordered by West Washington Avenue, Regent and Park streets.

Portrait of a neighborhood

Portrait of a neighborhood

Angie Powell was raised by adoptive parents on Madison’s west side. As an adult, she lived on Williamson Street. But no place has felt quite like Bayview Townhouses, where she moved with her son in 2010.

“The west side is not culturally diverse like Bayview or the east side. I was one of the few African Americans living there. I was really happy at 18 to get out of the neighborhood. I still feel like I don’t belong there when I visit my parents,” Powell relates in a new book about Bayview, which broke ground in August on a $50 million redevelopment.