Big Week of Real Estate News

The Couture Rendering. Rendering by Rinka Chung Architecture.

News broke Friday that the developers of The Couture, a $122 million, 44-story apartment tower, cleared their final major hurdle to secure a loan guarantee from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for an $80 million loan. Barrett Lo Visionary Development has been attempting to get the project built since winning a bidding process for the lakefront site at 909 E. Michigan St. in 2012.

The news allows Barrett Lo to prepare a schedule for construction and complete its financing package. For more information, read Jeramey Jannene’s article for Urban Milwaukee.

The story is great news for city officials, as the second phase of the streetcar system, The Hop’s L Line, is scheduled to run through the base of the building. Because of a federal grant which funds a portion of its capital costs, the city must open the extension by the end of 2020.

Mayor Tom Barrett, no relation to developer Rick Barrett, was happy to tout the good news on The Couture at Friday’s ribbon cutting for The Hop. Milwaukeeans can ride streetcars on city streets for the first time in 60 years.

Michels Hopes for 2018 Groundbreaking, Komatsu TID Up for Approval

A representative from Michels’ Corp. told a city committee the firm hopes to break ground on its $49 million first phase by the end of 2018. The infrastructure contractor is building a five-building development on the former Horny Goat Brewing site at the south end of the Harbor District. An $8.5 million tax-incremental financing district would support the project and nearby public infrastructure projects.

Another TIF district is in the works to the north. The city would create a $25 million district to support Komatsu Mining Corp.’s proposed $285 million campus.

The proposal goes before the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee this month. The financing is contingent upon the company creating 1,300 jobs at the site.

The future campus will be situated at the very end of E. Greenfield Ave. in the Harbor District. It will feature a 170,000-square-foot office building, a 410,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and a 20,000-square-foot company museum.

Baird Temporarily Moving to Foxconn Building

The financial firm Robert W. Baird & Co. is going to lease three floors in Foxconn’s seven-story building at 611 E. Wisconsin Avenue.

Baird employees will occupy approximately 54,000 square feet of space so that renovations can be completed in the offices the firm leases in the U.S. Bank Center, Tom Daykin reported. Baird will be in the building for roughly a year and a half.

Another School To Housing Project

Yet another surplus school building owned by Milwaukee Public Schools will be redeveloped into housing.

In May 2017, I reported that Gorman & Co. was exploring converting the McKinley Avenue School into apartments.

Now we know what the plans are. The company hopes to convert the existing building into 36 affordable apartments, Daykin reported. Also, Gorman plans to build eight condos behind the school building. The $11.5 million project would rely in part on historic preservation credits and low-income housing tax credits.

In Other News:

• The Streetcar Is Finally Open to the Public
• Michels to Break Ground in Harbor District Soon
• Bay View Stables Deal Approved
• Villard Ave. Project Gets TIF
• Complete Streets Becomes Law

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