A firm that renovates homes for Milwaukee nonprofit housing groups plans to redevelop a Riverwest neighborhood building into its worker training center, office, café, and events center.
Home Hab Ltd. Co., led by Calvin Martin, would buy the two-story, 3,600-square-foot building, 3276-3278 N. Holton St., from the city for $60,000 under a proposal being recommended by Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s Department of City Development.
That sale was endorsed by the council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee on June 16.
Home Hab Ltd. was launched in Beloit in 2023. Martin began renovating homes there while working as a manufacturing engineer at Fairbanks Morse Defense.
Martin has since become a full-time contractor, with Home Hab renovating and selling 40 homes in Beloit, he told committee members.
Acts Housing, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit which helps lower-income first-time homebuyers, asked Martin to expand his operations to Milwaukee.
Martin was familiar with Acts after completing its homebuyer education course in Beloit – and then buying a house there, according to the nonprofit.
Home Hab is providing contracting services to Acts Housing and Revitalize Milwaukee, a nonprofit which provide free home repairs for lower-income residents and others. Martin plans to use part of the Holton Street building as an employee training center.
Martin plans to hire 10 to 15 full-time employees and five to 10 part-time workers, training them in basic construction and remodeling skills, according to a Department of City Development report.
Home Hab also will provide training for students participating in Revitalize Milwaukee programs, the report said.
In addition, the building will house a Home Hab office, as well as Shannon’A’gans, a breakfast and lunch café to be operated by Shannon Mixon.
It will provide healthy food items, Mixon told the committee. The menu will feature soups, salads, sandwiches, and other items.
The building will include an event space and three upstairs apartments, Martin said. It was constructed in 1921 and acquired by the city through property tax foreclosure in 2014.
The renovation budget is estimated at $95,000.
“As the housing component grows, [Martin] plans to expand its workforce in order to create more opportunities and support the city’s mission of increasing affordable housing options for Milwaukee residents,” the report said.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Bluesky, X and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Riverwest building to be redeveloped as training center, café, office
Reporting by Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
