Marquette’s New “Mansions”

The MU Mansions, 1703-1719 W. State St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Three new houses are rising atop a long-vacant lot at N. 17th St. and W. State St.

Three B Company is developing what it calls the MU Mansions on a 10,932-square-lot, 1703-1719 W. State St., just north of the Marquette University campus.

The “mansions” offer six units of housing. According to a leasing website, each unit will have three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a layout geared towards college roommates, not families. The bathrooms are immediately next to one another and the bedrooms, all similarly sized, are in a row on the other side of the hallway.

Only one unit, available for $2,250, is said to be still available. The units are expected to be move-in ready starting June 1.

The new houses join an existing Three B property, marketed as “The Mansion,” located immediately to the south at 953-955 N. 17th St.

The four houses are part of a larger portfolio of properties Three B owns and markets toward Marquette students. According to public records, the company is connected to William Brachman, Sonny Bando and Brad Sehler.

The new houses, according to city permits, are being designed by Cityscape Architecture and constructed by Kuhs Quality Homes. Each is to be two stories with 2,390 square feet of interior space. The easternmost house abuts a billboard that faces Downtown. Parking is being offered in a small surface parking lot on the west side of the site.

The city, through the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee, acquired the W. State St. property for $53,400 in 1998 according to Assessor’s Office records. Aerial images show the site was cleared sometime between 1975 and 1981 as were many others nearby as part of a series of street widening and urban renewal schemes.

Three B won a 2021 request for proposals process to purchase the site for $23,000, $1,000 more than the asking price. The total investment, according to a Department of City Development report, was estimated at $1.17 million.

The project is one of two in the area north of Marquette’s campus that has subtly increased the density in recent years. A new sorority house for Pi Beta Phi was constructed at 1601 W. Kilbourn Ave., which first involved developer Cedar Square relocating the two-story house on the property three blocks west to 950 N. 19th St., a vacant lot. The move occurred in 2021 and both buildings were occupied as of fall 2022.

Photos

Pre-Construction Photos and Rendering