In Milwaukee’s historic Bronzeville neighborhood, a new chapter in Black resilience is being written, one brick at a time.
Maures Development Group, one of Wisconsin’s first minority- and women-owned real estate development firms, has unveiled Bronzeville Estates, a transformative new project led by founder Melissa Nicole Allen. More than just a housing development, Bronzeville Estates is a bold act of reclamation, history, legacy, and power.
Bronzeville was once the heartbeat of Milwaukee’s Black community, a bustling corridor filled with churches, businesses, doctors’ offices, dance halls, and pride. But in the 1960s, the construction of Interstate 43 uprooted over 8,000 residents, decimating the community’s infrastructure and soul.
“It was our Harlem Renaissance, our Tulsa, our Chicago Bronzeville,” Allen told Because Of Them We Can. “But in the 1950s, that progress was erased under the guise of ‘urban renewal.’”
For Allen, this work is personal. Her great-grandfather, Rev. William C.J. McLin, was the pastor of St. Matthew CME Church on Walnut Street, right before the neighborhood was demolished. Decades later, her uncle, Michael Bivens, was tragically killed near properties she would ultimately redevelop.
“That realization was sobering—and deeply affirming,” Allen reflects. “Bronzeville Estates isn’t just a development—it’s a legacy. It’s about restoring what was deliberately dismantled.”
Since launching Maures Development Group in 2006, Allen has invested over $100 million and created more than 400 units of housing across the city, but her heart has always led her back to Bronzeville. Bronzeville Estates marks her fourth major investment in the neighborhood, following the Milwaukee Prosperity development (2015), the Historic Garfield Apartments (2017), and The Griot Apartments alongside America’s Black Holocaust Museum (2018).
“Each time is part of a larger mission,” she explains, “to honor the legacy, rebuild what was unjustly taken, and ensure that future generations know the truth and live in the power of that history.”
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With the completion of Bronzeville Estates, $12.2 million and 30 new units, Allen is flipping the narrative on development.
“This is my fourth development in this neighborhood because I believe in staying the course. I believe in going deeper, not wider. Every brick we lay here pushes back against the narrative that our communities are disposable. This is restoration work. This is justice work,” explained Allen.
“For too long, our neighborhoods have been labeled, redlined, disinvested, and then ‘revitalized’ without us. Bronzeville Estates flips that script. It shows what happens when Black leadership takes the reins,” she added.
Allen’s vision isn’t just about buildings, it’s about identity, cultural memory, and self-determination. She sees Bronzeville Estates as a mirror for Milwaukee’s Black community, reflecting back its strength, resilience, and brilliance. “We are not asking to be included—we are claiming what has always been ours: the right to live, to thrive, and to lead in the heart of our own city.”
She also sees the project as a blueprint for the future of Black women in her field. Citing the words of bell hooks, Vel Phillips, and Audre Lorde, Allen says this work is about more than economic development; it’s about legacy, power, and transformation.
“This redevelopment is an act of daring-daring to build in a world that often tries to silence us, daring to lead when our power is so often underestimated…We’re not asking for space—we’re making it and showing what’s possible when we do,” says Allen.
Looking ahead, Maures Development Group is preparing to expand its impact. Plans are underway to launch a hotel, retain full ownership of future projects, and bring the spirit of community-rooted development to cities across the country. Allen is also committed to public speaking and consulting to help others replicate her equity-first model of development.
“Beyond the brick and mortar,” she says, “there is a commitment to share the story behind the work.”
In a time when Black history is being silenced in classrooms and rewritten in legislation, Bronzeville Estates stands tall as a counter-narrative. It is a living archive of Black excellence rooted in purpose, powered by history, and built for generations to come.
Cover photo: Developer Melissa Nicole Allen Reclaims History With Grand Opening of Historic Bronzeville Estates in Milwaukee/Photo credit: Maures Development Group