Changes happening at 7933 Tree Lane. Hoping for a smooth transition

Hey Everybody, as you may or may not know Heartland Housing has gone out of business leaving 2 properties here in Madison in shambles. 7933 Tree Lane Family Apartments and a property on the East side. Please read the information below as we try to help navigate what Tree Lane Family Apartments will look like after these changes. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out. 

Thanks,
Alder Conklin

district9@cityofmadison.com

Affordable Housing Non-Profit Set to Leave Madison, Focus is on Ensuring Smooth Transition

Citing mounting financial pressures and other challenges, Heartland Housing, the Chicago-based non-profit that developed two affordable housing projects in Madison that serve formerly homeless residents, is getting out of the business. One of those properties is 7933 Tree Lane Apartments, just off of Mineral Point Road. The property offers 45 apartments for formerly homeless families.

As residents in the area know too well, Tree Lane Apartments struggled almost from the day it opened in the summer of 2018. Heartland failed to meet its most basic responsibility – providing effective property management services. It could not hire, and could not maintain the staff needed to operate the building and support its residents. There is no other way to say it than that Heartland failed the tenants at Tree Lane Apartments by not meeting those responsibilities and, in doing so, it failed the neighborhood. And it did that despite much financial and other support from the City of Madison, and from area residents and faith-based groups. 

But Heartland is gone now. On Thursday, at the urging of the City and other financial stakeholders in the property, a Dane County judge appointed a receiver to take control of the property. The receiver’s job is to help stabilize a distressed property and see that it is properly maintained and better managed. One of the first priorities will be to improve the safety and security of the property for residents and guests. Our goal should be to make this building a safe and comfortable place for families that call it home and want only to have the same quality of life that we all enjoy.

I am disappointed that things did not turn out better at Tree Lane Apartments. But now we get a chance to learn from some mistakes, to make some adjustments and to try anew to set this property up to be successful in the future. The City does not own this property, or manage the building, but we will have a chance to work with the receiver and others to help shape what comes next. We must also be realistic and understand that it will take time to improve the current situation; changes aren’t going to happen overnight. But I think we’ve taken a big step in the right direction and now it’s up to us to try to do things better. I’m up for that challenge.