THE GRIOT + ABHM

The Historic Garfield Campus redevelopment is one campus albeit with two distinct components: The Griot and the Historic Garfield School.

The Griot, the name used in West Africa to describe a storyteller, has 41 mixed-income units and has 8,000 square feet of commercial space. The apartments serve households at 30%, 50%, and 60% CMI. It offers six market rate units.

America's Black Holocaust Museum is on the ground floor of The Griot Apartments. The return of the museum in a physical space has had a dramatic and immediate impact on the Bronzeville community, as well as the City of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin. America’s Black Holocaust Museum was founded in 1988 in a storefront by Dr. James Cameron, the only known survivor of a lynching. In 1992 Cameron acquired a spacious free-standing building, which he renovated and opened on Juneteenth Day 1994 with expanded exhibits and a staff.

ABHM's new galleries are located on the very footprint of their first building in Milwaukee's Bronzeville neighborhood. On the ground floor of the new Griot Building (named for Dr. Cameron), the new galleries take visitors on a chronological journey through the Black Holocaust from 1619 to the present.

Development partner: J. Jeffers & Co.

The Griot Apartments utilized the following funding sources:

-$6,328,104 LIHTC Equity

-$1,210,000 Permanent Financing

-$835,000 TIF, HTF

-$525,000 FHLBC AHP Funds

-$481,476 Deferred Developer Fee

-$250,000 WEDC