Although sales of commercial condominiums have been slow in the Milwaukee area, a new speculative commercial condo development is under construction at Puetz Road and Mayhew Drive in Oak Creek.
Construction for the first phase of the project, being developed by Big Bend Development, began recently and is expected to be complete in May. The first phase is a one-story, 22,000-square-foot multi-tenant building. The second phase will be another similar-sized building.
The space is being sold for about $180 per square foot and will be available for office or retail users, said Jenny Jansen, office broker for RFP Commercial Inc., which is marketing the property.
The first building has one buyer that has signed a letter of intent for a 3,500-square-foot space, Jansen said. She declined to disclose the buyer.
Some other building owners in the Milwaukee area that have offered commercial condos say sales have been slow. Commercial condos offer many of the same benefits of home ownership, such as the ability to build equity, that a residential condominium offers compared with renting an apartment.
However, commercial condo owners have less flexibility to move or expand compared with a company that is leasing space.
Commercial condominiums have become very popular on the coasts and in some southern markets, but they have been slow to catch on in the Milwaukee area.
"It is so new," Jansen said. "The calls that I have made, people have responded positively to it."
Jansen said she expects interest in the Oak Creek commercial condominium project to pick up now that the building is under construction.
"That gets people’s thinking to the next level," she said. "It’s also behind a retail center that has done well. There’s enough activity in the area. I think once (the project) gets more attention, it will ultimately be successful."
The project is located directly east behind a Pick ‘n Save store and south of an Aurora Health Care Clinic and Oak Creek Senior High School.
The project is being designed by Plunkett Raysich Architects.
