Southeastern Wisconsin Housing Summit to Tackle Workforce Housing Gaps

As housing costs rise and supply dwindles across Southeastern Wisconsin, regional leaders are gathering to move housing projects from vision to reality. The Southeastern Wisconsin Housing Summit will take place on Thursday, May 7, at the Zoofari Conference Center in Milwaukee.

Organized by UW–Madison Extension, the Summit addresses a critical shortage of workforce housing and the legislative and market hurdles currently facing the region. The goal of the event is to increase housing inventory and provide data to support community-level conversations on new housing development.

“A recent report by the Wisconsin Realtors Association estimated that 133,000-144,000 new housing units will be needed in Wisconsin by 2030,” said Steve Chmielewski, Community Development Educator for Extension Waukesha County. “That’s the projected number of housing units to support economic development across the state: to help people moving in for jobs, to help employers, to help schools.”

Event Details at a Glance:
● Date & Time: Thursday, May 7, 2026 – 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
● Location: Zoofari Conference Center, Milwaukee, WI
● Focus: Data-driven strategies, policy solutions, and practical development tools
● Registration: go.wisc.edu/housingsummit (registration closes May 1)

The Summit is designed for the people building and managing Wisconsin’s communities, including community leaders, employers, builders and developers, local officials, urban planners, and housing organizations/advocates. Attendees will explore high-impact topics such as overcoming NIMBYism and community opposition, manufactured/modular housing solutions, data trends, and problem-solving between local government and the private sector.

Registration includes lunch and refreshments. For more information or to register, visit go.wisc.edu/housingsummit.

Editor’s note: This announcement was provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension–Walworth County.