Construction on a 31-story apartment tower in downtown Milwaukee has come to a halt as the project’s developer says it is grappling with rising project costs.
Known as Neutral.Edison, the 378-unit apartment tower began construction at 1005 N. Edison St. along the Milwaukee River this summer. So far, crews with Fond du Lac-based general contractor C.D. Smith have completed the building’s foundation, but had not started vertical construction.
In a statement released Thursday, the project’s Madison-based developer, Neutral, said it was implementing a temporary pause in construction 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.
A rendering of The Edison.
On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue filed a warrant saying that Neutral had an overdue tax bill of $37,774, according to court records.
“Pausing to value-engineer is a difficult but prudent step to safeguard the long-term success of 1005 N. Edison,” Helbach said. “Our focus remains on delivering a resilient, exceptional building for Milwaukee.”
The Edison project has been in the works for several years. Neutral paid $4.12 million for the site in 2022 and said it secured $133.3 million in construction financing for the project this past December.
Neutral is the same developer that was selected last year by the city of Milwaukee to develop a $700 million project at the Marcus Performing Arts Center parking lot, with offices, retail, a hotel and housing on the site. That project has not moved forward as downtown Ald. Bob Bauman said he does not think the project is feasible.
