East Washington corridor in Madison Wisconsin: After long delay, Salvation Army shelter is finally a reality (February 2026 construction site visit)

 

From this...

Photos above and below by Retiring Guy

...to this...

Photos by Retiring Guy

...to this.

Rendering and headline:  Wisconsin State Journal, 4/8/2025

Nicole Pollock reports:

The Salvation Army of Dane County won city approval in 2019 to demolish its shelter for homeless women and families on East Washington Avenue and convert the site into a campus with office space, more beds and some low-income apartments. Half a decade later, the 44-unit Shield Apartments has been completed at the intersection of East Mifflin and North Blount streets. But the old shelter, an aging former Catholic school, still stands at 630 E. Washington Ave., just east of Downtown. It's the only drop-in shelter for women and families in the county, and staff say it's crowded and outdated. The Salvation Army put the shelter redevelopment on hold during the pandemic to prioritize housing people, Marc Ott of JLA Architects, a local firm working with the Salvation Army on the project, said at a neighborhood meeting last week. The project's city approvals eventually expired.

Other East Washington posts:

2025

Latest proposal for Brayton Lot.  (8/22)

Empty block next to GEF 1 in downtown Madison is next isthmus redevelopment target. (7/11)

Porchlight 8-story mixed-use building.  (6/16)

5-story, 192-unit multi-family apartments at 3100 East Washington Avenue.  (6/15)

Aloha Inn.  (6/15)

Rise Apartments. (5/29)

Baker's Place.  (5/7)

Salvation Army looks to get shelter for homeless women and families back on track.  (4/7)

Baker's Place.  (3/8)

Empty block next to GEF 1 in downtown Madison is next Isthmus redevelopment target.  (3/8)

Low-income housing development proposed at site of WMC headquarters.  (3/8)

Baker's Place.  (1/28)

2024

Rise Apartments.  (10/21)

Baker's Place.  (9/28)

Rise Apartments.  (6/11)

Moxy Hotel.  (5/6)

Baker's Place.  (5/6)

Redevelopment project at 3401 East Washington Avenue.  (2/7)

151-room Moxy Hotel construction site visits.  (1/29)

New home of Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra.  (1/29)

2023

15-story hotel proposed for Archipelago Village.  (10/17)

The Continental.  (7/25)

The Standard site visits series.  (2/23)

2022

Huge mural provides showcase for new mixed-use development.  (10/2)

Archipelago Village.  (3/3)

Low-cost housing proposed for former Bimbo Bakeries site.  (1/23)

Madison Youth Arts Center.  (1/2)

2021

The Valor.  (10/19)

800 block project revisited:  Love notes to the temporarily shuttered Sylvee.  (2/14)

2020

The Arden.  (12/18)

10-story apartment building proposed for 400 block.  (1/10)

Stone House mixed-use development on East Washington.  (1/9)

2019

Hotel Indigo.  (12/2)

NIMBY chronicles.  (11/12)

AC Hotel, Madison WI:  A view from the 10th floor bar.  (11/12)

Capital East parking garage.  (1/14)

2018

East Capital parking garage UPDATE. Late November construction progress report. (11/28)

Proposed hotel put on hold. (2/12)
StartingBlock construction as we approach the end of January. (1/30)

2017
The Lyric Apartments are ready for occupancy.  (8/30)
This stretch of East Washington Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin, has undergone a major transformation during the past 5 years.  (5/13)

2016
Madison East Washington Festival Foods is open for business.  (4/13)

2015
The balconies of the Constellation.  (4/19)

2014
The Constellation rises above the treetops.  (9/7)