For 160 years, the 65-acre Voit Farm was a fixture on Madison’s east side, an oasis of rural life in a fast-growing city. But the farm buildings were torn down in 2025 to make way for an ambitious redevelopment plan that could include hundreds of homes, new streets, green space, a shared-use path, and more. [Cap Times]
Here’s a closer look at a development that will transform Madison’s east side:
🧑🌾 City Meets Country
When the Voit family built their farm in the 1860s, the area was still considered rural. The farm included 23 acres of land dedicated to growing crops as well as a silo, a barn, two houses, wetlands, a fishing pond, and a ready-mix concrete plant.
The Voit family owned the farm until 2021, when they sold the property for over $8 million to the Starkweather development company, which is a partnership between Stone House Development and Threshold Development. Since then, the companies have used tax increment financing from the city to develop housing on the property.
In June, the city of Madison announced plans to buy three acres of the land from the developers for $4.3 million as part of its plan to create more affordable housing. [🔒WSJ, WPR]
🏘️ How Much Housing Will Be Built?
In June, Stone House Development President Helen Bradbury told the city council that around 30 acres of the property could be developed into up to 1,000 units of both market rate and affordable housing, with the rest set aside for wetlands and green space. The development will also include new cross streets to facilitate access, a bike/pedestrian path, a dog park and more.
Facing rising population and home prices, Madison has set its goal of adding 15,000 new homes by 2030, a quarter of those affordable in the long term. The city’s housing tracker says more than 4,300 net new homes have been built since January 2025, with another 4,500 currently under construction. [WPR, City of Madison]
⏱️ What’s the Time Frame?
Starkweather began construction in May, and the entire project is expected to last five to 10 years. Construction on the parcels purchased by the city could start in 2027, officials said. [WPR]
