Opened last year in Madison, WI, a 70,000-square-foot facility is addressing two pressing community needs with a solution greater than the sum of its parts. Developed by nonprofit Movin’ Out, the building includes 38 affordable apartments, nine of which offer supportive housing for residents with disabilities. Residents at the André Apartments have access to a wide range of amenities that include secure bike storage, underground parking, a community room, shared outdoor deck, fitness center, and on-site management office.
On the ground floor of the facility is a 21,000-square-foot early childhood education (ECE) center operated by Red Caboose, one of the longest tenured independent child care centers in the country. After outgrowing its previous facility, Red Caboose will be able to serve triple the number of families it did previously by the time it reaches capacity in the new space.
By providing affordable, quality apartments and a multitude of amenities in a transit-accessible location that increases connectivity to health care, employment, supportive services, retail, and more – and co-locating those apartments in a building with a state-of-the-art space designed specifically to help children learn, grow, and develop – the project is a model for the potential of co-locating such community assets.
For Movin’ Out, the shared facility presents an opportunity to chip away at a shortage of affordable rental housing in Madison while also providing residents with an invaluable amenity: access to quality ECE in the most accessible location possible. Residents receive enrollment preference from Red Caboose, reducing the chances that families who need child care will struggle to find affordable, accessible options. For Red Caboose, the project offered a pathway to a state-of-the-art space without incurring the full cost of developing a standalone facility. That was particularly important for the nonprofit child care provider, as it offers sliding-scale tuition based on family income that makes ECE inclusive and affordable to low-income families but limits the organization’s cash on hand. By sharing the facility, both organizations are benefiting from financial and operational synergies that free up resources that can be devoted to the nonprofits’ missions.
To help facilitate the project, IFF provided two loans totaling $4.18 million to Movin’ Out for the development of the facility and two loans totaling $3.58 million to Red Caboose that enabled the organization to purchase its ground floor commercial condo and build out the space to meet its needs. Additionally, IFF sponsored an application for the project through the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago’s Affordable Housing Program (AHP), which provided Movin’ Out with an additional $480,000 in funding for the project.
Watch the video below to learn more about the project and how AHP helped bring this model for co-location to fruition.
Movin' Out and Red Caboose · Housing and Early Childhood Education
Madison Nonprofits Team Up on Affordable Housing and Early Childhood Education in a Win-Win for Everybody
Movin’ Out and Red Caboose partnered on the development of a new, 70,000-square-foot facility that’s addressing shortages of quality affordable housing and early childhood education (ECE) slots in Madison, WI. The project created 38 affordable apartments (including nine supportive units for residents with disabilities) and 67 ECE slots, while also revitalizing a long-vacant lot in a high-traffic, transit-accessible corridor in the city.
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