A groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday to celebrate the start of construction for the 90-unit apartment building that will be built adjacent to the parking structure at the new Milwaukee Bucks arena.
The apartments, to be called Fife Fifty Ultra Lofts, will be located along the east side of North Sixth Street between West Juneau Avenue and West McKinley Avenue, on the west side of the parking structure
Milwaukee-based development firm Royal Capital Group LLC is leading the project. Engberg Anderson Architects has designed the building.
“This was always about more than an arena,” said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. “The arena is just the crown jewel. Five Fifty is a special place in the city of Milwaukee.”
The development will include micro, one-bedroom and two-bedroom floor plans, including some designed as two-story lofts immediately north of the new arena.
Royal Capital was selected from a broad group of both local and national developers interested in contributing to the project.
Bucks President Peter Feigin said the apartments are another step forward in increasing population density in the Park East corridor.
“Fife Fifty will be one of the landmarks the entire development is recognized for,” Feigin said.
Found in 2010 by Kevin Newell, Royal Capital focuses on urban development. Newell is currently working on a 181-unit residential development in Milwaukee’s Brewer’s Hill neighborhood and is also a partner on a mixed-used development to replace the Mill Road library branch with a new 17,000 square foot library and 55 mixed-income apartments.
Alderwoman Milele Coggs said no one could have envisioned what the Milwaukee Bucks have built in the Park East corridor. She praised the ownership group’s commitment to hiring local developers, including Royal Capital Group.
“Today we are here for a groundbreaking, but this is more ground breaking than you can imagine,” Coggs said. “This will be only the second building owned by an African American in downtown Milwaukee.”
Royal Capital Group purchased the site where the apartments will be built, from Dear District LLC, an affiliate of the Bucks in March for $830,000, according to state records.
The Germania Building, 135 W. Wells St., was developed by Kalan Haywood, president of Vangard Group LLC, a black-owned business.
