A delayed veterans housing project on Milwaukee's northwest side is to be taken over by a new developer.

The "tiny homes" project was to begin construction last year after Racine-based Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin Inc. bought the 7-acre city-owned site, at 6767 N. 60th St., for $35,000.

But, "due to various factors, including the global pandemic," Veterans Outreach hasn't yet started construction, according to a new city Redevelopment Authority report.

So, Veterans Community Project Inc., a Kansas City-based nonprofit group, will take over the project to build at least 24 tiny homes and a community building for homeless vets, the report said.

The authority's board is to review that proposal at its Thursday meeting. It also will need Common Council approval.

Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin would sell the property to Veterans Community Project, which is to complete the development by June 30, 2024.

The Common Council and then-Mayor Tom Barrett approved the project in 2019.

Its first phase is to feature 24 single-family small houses, each with 240 square feet, and a 10,000-square-foot community center with a communal kitchen, showers and offices to host services for the residents.

The goal is to help residents become stable and find jobs and new housing within two years. The tiny-homes model is designed to give each resident a sense of having their own home.

The proposal was based on Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin's Racine development: the James A. Peterson Veterans Village. It opened in 2017 and features 15 tiny homes and a community center.

Veterans Community Project has developed a tiny homes project in Kansas City, and is developing similar projects in St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Longmont, Colorado, according to its website.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.