Grohmann Tower building originally was slated to be an extended-stay hotel, a Staybridge Inn & Suites that was known as The Residences on Water, but the project went bankrupt while it was under construction in 2008. The Milwaukee School of Engineering stepped in to buy the building in 2013 and convert it to student housing.
For years, the only thing in the building was a Qdoba restaurant, which occupied a small corner of the first floor.
The project was funded by an anonymous donation by Eckhart Grohmann. It was briefly known as the MSOE Tower Apartments.
The building includes 17 apartments for faculty.
Prior to development, the majority of the site was a city-owned parking lot.
A large portion of the building is tax-exempt because of its use by the university for student housing.
Photos
Content referencing Grohmann Tower
Bartolotta Group Plans Mystery Restaurant
Water Street space to be 'reconceptualized' in $350,000 construction project.
Jun 18th, 2025 by Sophie Bolich
Conveyor Belt Sushi Restaurant Planned For Downtown
Kenosha-based Sooshibay plans its second location on Water Street.
May 9th, 2025 by Sophie Bolich
Urban Milwaukee’s Jeramey Jannene Appears on C-SPAN
Our president discusses convention preparation and what Urban Milwaukee will cover.
Jul 15th, 2024 by Urban Milwaukee
Former Blatz Brewing Building Sold
Plus: A recap of the week's real estate news.
Oct 2nd, 2022 by Jeramey Jannene
MSOE Opens Viets Tower
New residence hall replaces Roy W. Johnson Hall.
Aug 20th, 2021 by Jeramey Jannene
Inside The Redevelopment of Viets Tower
MSOE is transforming its oldest residence hall, adding a 13-story addition.
Dec 28th, 2020 by Jeramey Jannene
Viets Tower’s Rise
MSOE redeveloping 1960s residence hall into modern complex accessible to all students.
Dec 4th, 2020 by Jeramey Jannene
City Selling 10 Parking Lots
Looking for land redevelop in the city? DCD may have a deal for you.
Dec 2nd, 2020 by Jeramey Jannene
Buffalo Wild Wings Closing?
The lease for the chain's Water Street location is up in January.
Sep 4th, 2020 by Michael Holloway
Downtown Pizza Place Opening Soon
Chicago-based Pizano's Pizza & Pasta is about as Italian as you can get.
May 19th, 2018 by Jennifer Rick
10 Images of a Changing City
Think Milwaukee moves slowly? These dramatic interactive images will change your mind.
Apr 8th, 2016 by Jeramey Jannene
Is Bucks Arena a Done Deal?
The way the team's owners are buying up downtown land, they're clearly certain the deal will pass.
Jul 6th, 2015 by Dave Reid
1,449 New Apartments Coming
And more are on the way, all within a two-mile radius of City Hall.
May 29th, 2015 by Dave Reid
Inside the World’s Tallest Qdoba?
Finally there is activity in the 14-story building on Juneau and Water that's been occupied only by a Qdoba since 2008.
Nov 7th, 2014 by Dave Reid
The Slow Demise of Sydney Hih
Sydney Hih could be saved, a witch hunt on North Ave, UWM has a baseball team (?), and Alderman Jose Perez wins a game for the Brewers.
Jun 6th, 2012 by Jeramey Jannene
Regional Bus Service Cuts, Transit Center Redevelopment, Museum Mile, and More
The 11th installment of Eyes on Milwaukee focuses on transit, development, and new restaurants. The Downtown Transit Center's redevelopment is inching closer to reality. The Milwaukee Museum Mile is a new marketing effort for some overlooked museums. Service reductions are coming to the Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha commuter bus service, and the Milwaukee City Clerk is still tweeting, thankfully.
May 3rd, 2012 by Jeramey Jannene
Future of Transit Event, Urban Milwaukee Store Grand Opening, and More
Welcome to the eighth installment of Eyes on Milwaukee. This week I invite you to a handful of Urban Milwaukee events, challenge you to name the new river skimmer, and share a fair amount of development news and information about new restaurants in Milwaukee.
Apr 12th, 2012 by Jeramey Jannene
A Year in Review
As the US economy continued it slow recovery from the Great Recession, Milwaukee was left with a couple of failed development projects to complete or redefine, a changing real estate market, the opportunity to make small infrastructure changes, and questions about the future of transit.
Dec 15th, 2011 by Dave Reid
Condominium Sales Update
A sampling of projects in varying states of completion showed that over 200 recently completed or under construction condominium units have not been sold. A look at the data indicates that In many cases the high priced units have gone un-sold. Clearly the market downturn has slowed sales but this may also indicated a demand for units priced at an affordable level. Development # Units % Sold Status City Green 44 20% Ready to Move In First Place on the River 184 56% Ready to Move In Park Terrace Bluff Homes 16 56% Ready to Move In Park Terrace Row House 21 71% Ready to Move In Residences on Water 31 29% Under Construction River Renaissance 81 55% Ready to Move In 601 Lofts 83 61% Ready to Move In Sterling 112 98% Ready to Move In University Club 56 89% Ready to Move In Data was not available for the The Breakwater, Park Lafayette, Flatiron, Union Point, The Edge, and Kilborn Tower
Jan 14th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Photos of The Residences on Water Construction
The View Down Water Street Originally uploaded by compujeramey There are a lot of photos of the construction of the Residences on Water being taken. Dave Reid of the Milwaukee Development Update has done an excellent job snagging images of the construction to-date. I recently was over there to snag a few pictures between classes and have added them to a Flickr set for your viewing pleasure. Of course, because the community generates the best coverage, you can add your photos to the mix by uploading them to Flickr and tagging them “The Residences on Water“. Dave and I have both done this and you can find our photos available together by browsing the tag. Please feel free to add yours to the growing collection.
Dec 19th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
Construction Continues Despite Snow
As the city slipped and slid around from multiple inches of snow and ice dumped on it in recent days, construction crews continued building our city. Down on Water St. at The Residences on Water site men scrambled to remove snow from the roof while a crane lifted large beams into place. It appears the ER Post Structural System does allow them to build quickly as had been indicated. In fact fast enough that a line of semi’s sit with their engines running across the street from the site waiting their turn to unload the next beam. Over at the Breakwater site they have been busy as well. A second crane which is the largest crawler crane in the state has recently been assembled and will have a reach of up to 400 feet. The snow may have slowed some work but workers continued building the foundation and with second crane it’s clear that shortly we will see this project begin to rise out of the ground.
Dec 8th, 2007 by Dave Reid
The Residences on Water Are Rising Fast
The Residences on Water Originally uploaded by compujeramey The Residences on Water are rising fast, leading me to believe that the building actually will make its spring 2008 opening date. I walked by the building tonight on the way home from dollar burger night (every Tuesday) at Bar Louie. I was impressed at how quickly the building is rising. A couple quick facts… The building has 31 condos ranging from $234,000 to $2,300,000, of which 8 have been sold. The condos will occupy the top four floors. The Staybridge Suites hotel will occupy the middle six floors and include 128 rooms There will be a rooftop garden for residents and hotel guests. There will be 14,000 square feet of retail space The building is being built using the new ER Post Structural System that enables alternate floors to remain column free and allows for rapid build times from the use of precast trusses, the fact that it can be assembled in all weather conditions, and the requirement for fewer pieces. If you buy the penthouse of penthouses in the development for $2,362,100 you get a private 2,400 square foot root-top green space. Apparently there are two roof-top green spaces, presumably divided by some kind of massive HVAC unit. Developer Development Opportunity Corp of Fort Myers, Florida purchased six parcels of land for the development. Five of the parcels and a city-owned alley were purchased from the Milwaukee Redevelopment Authority for $443,340. The other parcel was a 13,000-square-foot parking lot purchased from the 1101 North Market Street Partners for $1.2 million. The 1101 North Market Street Partners also had previously sold the former Blatz Wash House located adjacent to the new development at 1101 North Market Street to SSG Properties Inc. of Pewaukee for $4.2 million in 2003. SSG Properties is too say the least, excited. The Blatz Wash House might finally get the attention it deserves with the increased foot traffic in the area. No word yet on who might be occupying the retail space. I don’t think it will take long to find a tenant for the site because there isn’t much else in the way of retail space in that area on Water St. coupled with thousands of drunk people at bars every weekend, MSOE dorms just around the corner, and a growing number of condos being developed in the area. The most important aspect of the development is that it replaces a surface parking lot with a large building that increases neighborhood density, which makes everything around the new building better and continues to expand upon a growing downtown area. The visual perception of downtown used to end at the 1000 North Water Street building, but will now continue north one more block to The Residences on Water. Dave Reid of the Milwaukee Development Update has a Flickr photo set up already and a blog post.
Nov 6th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
The Residences on Water
The Residences on Water is beginning to rise out of the ground. The building utilizes a new development method, called the ER Post Structural System, that should allow for the pace of work to dramatically pickup in the coming weeks. This acceleration is possible because this method allows for all-weather erection, has fewer pieces and lets other trades begin work earlier in the process. The $20 million project is being developed by Fort Myers, FL based Development Opportunity Corporation. Once complete it will include a 128-room Staybridge Suites, 31 condo units, ranging in price from $234,000 to $2.3 million of which 8 have been sold so far, and 14,000 square feet of retail space. I believe this project will have long lasting positive impacts on the Water St district. First it finishes the corner by removing a surface parking lot which adds to the urban fabric. Secondly the new activity created by the residents and hotel guests will continue to fuel neighborhood business. Further this project is clearly connected to Manpower’s move to downtown and should support their business travel needs. Overall this is one of the most intriguing projects to watch considering the potential long term affects it will have on Water St.To follow this development I’ve started a flickr set, The Residences on Water, that I will update with new pictures to keep track of the progress. Articles Ready to rise Downtown Staybridge hotel, retail project to finally begin New Precast Building Product from Spancrete Speeds On-site Construction Time
Nov 3rd, 2007 by Dave ReidBuilding data on this page, including assessment information, was last updated on April 5, 2024
See something wrong? Want to report an issue? Contact us.
