<body><div>Some projects such as The Couture get built after years of delay. But for every project without a hitch, some projects such as The Caroline and the Hotel Third Ward hit roadblocks. The latter project was slated to be an 11-story hotel addition to the historic Hoffco building in the Third Ward. In 2021, Wimmer Properties proposed turning the former warehouse into a 102-room boutique hotel operated as a Marriott Tribute Portfolio. The neighborhood architecture board gave approval, but the Hoffco building currently stands as is. The story is similar for a handful of public and private projects across the city.The building lot remains unchanged for The Caroline, a proposed 32-story development at 1325 N. Jefferson Street, slated just south of the Convent Hill development. Travaux Inc., owned by the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee, is the developer behind the project and planned up to 350 units of mixed high end and affordable housing. The project is currently on hold, said Amy Hall, the spokesperson for HACM. The zoning on the lot is currently expired and the Housing Authority expects to reapply for zoning “when the time is appropriate,” she added. An investor is still to be determined, according to the developer website. Near the city’s Park East Corridor, the second phase of the Avenir Apartment Homes is still due. The first phase of the project wrapped up in the mid-2010s and leased quickly, however there are still plans for an addition along the site’s East Milwaukee Street edge.The project was delayed due to the pandemic in 2020, and developer Weidner Investment Services Inc. was granted an extension by Milwaukee County until 2022. The developer was given another extension to December 2025. Union construction still busy despite vacant projectsAlthough some Milwaukee projects haven’t moved forward, the union construction industry is still busy, said Chris Mambu Rasch, the executive director of Building Advantage. The delays break down to financing and how developers pencil out construction, and construction costs and interest rates prove to be a challenge. “Everyone would like to see them go. It’s not atypical for projects to get held up for various reasons, mostly related to financing of the project and how it pencils out,” Mambu Rasch said. “What we’re seeing with the ones being held up is that issue, which goes back to the beginning of time for developers. That doesn’t mean others aren’t, so we’re seeing other projects moving forward,” he added. With the proposed half percentage point drop for interest rates at the Federal Reserve, Mambu Rasch said it’s likely more multifamily starts will take off in 2025. “We’re still quite busy in the construction industry,” Mambu Rasch said. “Most trades have a record amount of apprentices, which is a signal from the contractors who are employing them and hiring them that there’s enough work currently and in the future,” he added. And some projects will take incentive from federal or local governments and labor partners as well. The Couture, first proposed in 2012 and wrapped up construction in the summer of 2024, used tax increment financing and federal grants to get over the line. Additionally, he project used a $104.5 million commitment from the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. Mambu Rasch said the union construction industry was actively looking to partner with developers in the Milwaukee area and connect them to union friendly project financing. Projects still a go in MilwaukeeFor project ongoing in Milwaukee, residents don’t have to look further than the Northwestern Mutual North Office redevelopment, which is a conversion of an 18-story office building to modern standards, said Dan Bukiewicz, president of the Milwaukee Building &amp; Construction Trades Council.Despite the delayed projects, the market hasn’t slowed down, Bukiewicz added. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3TwJaQ_0vkwwjTz00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3TwJaQ_0vkwwjTz00" width="1024" height="768" ><figcaption>The Milwaukee Public Museum is one of the ongoing construction projects in the city. (Staff photo by Ethan Duran)</figcaption></figure>“It’s not for lack of market. Given the success conventions have had with Northwestern Mutual, the Republican National Convention and the (Democratic National Convention), it’s proven we can be a convention town,” Bukiewicz said. “I think those hotels may go through and it’s a good bet for Milwaukee to have in place to get larger conventions,” he added. Projects such as the Milwaukee Public Museum construction and the FPC Live entertainment venue were keeping labor busy as well, Bukiewicz noted. And construction work would be fueled further with the federal infrastructure money expected to come in from acts such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act. The Microsoft Data Center in Pleasant Prairie is a direct result of the latter act, Bukiewicz noted. “You’re watching Milwaukee transform into the 21st century city it’s going to be for the next 50, 100 years,” Bukiewicz said. </div></body>

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While some Milwaukee projects take off, others hit roadblocks

Some projects such as The Couture get built after years of delay. But for every project without a hitch, some projects such as The Caroline and the Hotel Third Ward hit roadblocks. The latter project was slated to be an 11-story hotel addition to the historic Hoffco building in the...