Ald. Robert Bauman, who represents the downtown area, is calling for the City of Milwaukee to reissue its request for proposals (RFP) for redevelopment of the Marcus Performing Arts Center (MPAC) parking structure site, after the city’s chosen developer has halted construction on another one of its projects nearby.
Bauman filed the resolution on Tuesday, city documents show, a week after Madison-based developer Neutral “temporarily paused” construction on its project at 1005 N. Edison St., known as Neutral.Edison. Neutral’s 31-story Edison project is planned to include 353 apartment units. It began construction along the Milwaukee River this summer and, so far, crews with Fond du Lac-based general contractor C.D. Smith have completed the building’s foundation, but have not started vertical construction as work on the project was recently paused as the developer is trying to address issues with rising project costs.
Last July, Milwaukee’s Department of City Development (DCD) selected Neutral to also redevelop the MPAC parking structure site next door to the Edison site, at 1001 N. Water St. Neutral’s ambitious $700 million proposal there includes more than 700 apartments, nearly 200,000 square feet of office space, a 300-room hotel and 40,000 square feet of retail space.
DCD proposed a one-year exclusive right to negotiate a sale of the site, but city officials and Neutral have both said there’s been little progress toward that.
While Neutral has maintained that it can be successful with the MPAC project, Bauman has remained skeptical and, last August, introduced legislation for the city to hire a third party to study the project’s feasibility, though that legislation never moved forward.
Bauman said Thursday his resolution filed Tuesday resolution was prompted by construction pausing on Neutral.Edison.
“Given their track record with the Edison project, I can’t even conceive of turning over 2.5 acres of downtown real estate to them when they now have a project that stopped,” Bauman said. “I was gonna let things play out a little bit, but given this turn of events, I said, ‘Okay, it’s time to cut our losses and start the process over.'”
The city’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development (ZND) Committee is in control of the resolution. That committee is set to meet next on Oct. 14. DCD has also introduced a communication file to update the committee on the Edison project, which should be discussed at the same meeting.
As the resolution is currently worded, it directs DCD to prepare a new RFP, which could then be reviewed by ZND, when committee members could suggest revisions, such as asking that the RFP exclude phased developments or that the RFP site be broken into smaller sites, Bauman said.
DCD did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Neutral’s Edison project site was quiet last Thursday.
In a statement released last Thursday, Neutral said it was implementing a temporary pause in construction for the Neutral.Edison to address cost pressures and optimize the project’s budget.
“Recent tariffs and broader inflation have materially increased key input hard costs,” the statement said. In April, Neutral CEO Nate Helbach said the firm was anticipating the Edison project to see a 2.4% increase in costs due to tariffs imposed and proposed by President Donald Trump.
During this pause, Neutral is working with C.D. Smith on a “comprehensive cost-reduction and value-engineering process,” the statement from Neutral said.
A timeline for construction to begin again has not yet been identified, but Neutral says it will proceed once the value-engineering process is complete.
Last Wednesday, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue filed a warrant saying that Neutral had an overdue tax bill of $37,774, according to court records.
