Empowerment Village

Empowerment Village was developed to provide housing and services to the homeless and the mentally ill. Due to a shortage of this type of special needs housing, the City of Milwaukee formed public-private partnerships with local developers to meet this unique housing demand. Horizon served as General Contractor for the project in partnership with a Minority Owned Business contractor that Horizon mentored on the project. Horizon was able to achieve over 40% MBE participation. The project is located at the intersection of Lincoln and Chase, a dilapidated corner which contained two existing structures slated for removal. Logistics and phasing on the site were challenging, with zero clearance at all lot lines and minimal area for staging. Horizon coordinated with all trades to maintain a very precise schedule – this high level of project coordination and planning contributed allowed for project completion 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Buy-out savings were returned to the project owner to assist with additional purchases for the project.