Seeing demand for boutique-scale office space, a local development firm is proposing a 30,000-square-foot office building in Milwaukee's Harbor District.
Plans filed with the city's Department of Neighborhood Services outline a four-story building designed with ground-level parking, a lobby, three floors of office space and a rooftop featuring indoor and outdoor amenities.
The building is planned for a 14,400-square-foot parcel at 350 S. Water St., just south of the historic former Zinn/Kurth Malting Co. grain elevator. The project site was purchased in April for $450,000 by Pontis LLC, an entity led by the Moede family, which has done other real estate developments in the Harbor District and Walker's Point area.
The Moede family’s own business would occupy a portion of the new building, while the remaining space is expected to attract other tenants.
“We're in active discussions with a number of interested parties,” said
Peter Moede. “Demand remains high for well-crafted, boutique-scale developments, and we see this project as a way to bring fresh momentum and private investment to the Harbor District.”
The Moede family's past real estate development projects include River Place Lofts, a residential redevelopment within the historic Pfister & Vogel tannery, and they also operate CentrePoint Yacht Services nearby.
Designed by
KORB Architecture, the new building would seek to capitalize on its southern riverfront orientation with expansive natural light and rooftop views.
"
The site at 350 South Water came with a unique set of design challenges, but KORB Architecture delivered a creative and responsive solution," Moede said. "A parcel once written off by many to be unbuildable is now poised to become a highly visible and active addition to the neighborhood."
Pending city approval, construction could begin soon and is expected to take approximately 14 months.
The properties to the north of the project site are owned by an affiliate of Milwaukee-based development firm
Mandel Group, which has long planned a mixed-use project there, though plans have never advanced to construction.
"We have a long-standing presence in this part of the city," Moede said. "We believe South Water Street is an area full of unrealized potential and well-positioned for transformative development."
