A downtown high-rise is about to start construction. Public plazas are planned next to it

Two publicly funded plazas are to be developed next to a new downtown apartment tower that will overlook the Milwaukee River.

The plazas will be adjacent to The Edison , a 32-story, 383-unit high-end tower. The tower is planned for a vacant lot at 1005 N. Edison St. − where the former Rojahn & Malaney Co. warehouse was demolished in 2023.

Madison-based The Neutral Project LLC, the project developer, recently applied for construction permits. Prep work has started at the riverfront site with full construction to begin by September.

One plaza is planned for south of the high-rise, near the State Street bridge, said Madison Goldbeck, Department of City Development marketing and communications officer.

Another plaza would make improvements to city-owned land north of the tower and south of the Highland Avenue pedestrian bridge, Goldbeck told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Both plazas would be tied to the Riverwalk.

The plazas would be funded with $600,000 from a tax incremental financing district. That funding needs Common Council approval.

That tax district was created in 2007 to help finance the redevelopment of two underused office buildings at 731-735 N. Water St. and the property’s associated Riverwalk.

Property tax revenue from that redeveloped site, which includes a Gold's Gym and other commercial space, has since been used for Riverwalk repairs and additional downtown projects.

The latest tax financing proposal from Mayor Cavalier Johnson's administration will have an initial public hearing before the Redevelopment Authority board at its July 10 meeting.

The Edison will take about 30 months to build.

It will use an unusual construction technique known as mass timber, or cross-laminated timber. That process uses layers of wood pressed together to create columns, beams and other building frame components.

Apartments, offices and other buildings made from timber provide a lower carbon footprint than conventional construction. They also can create a more attractive atmosphere, featuring exposed wood interiors.

Downtown also is home to Ascent, a mass timber apartment tower that opened in 2022 at 700 E. Kilbourn Ave.

The Edison will join two other Milwaukee apartment high-rises that are finishing construction: The Couture , 909 E. Michigan St., and 333 Water , 333 N. Water St.

An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect location for one of the plazas.

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

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A downtown high-rise is about to start construction. Public plazas are planned next to it