Units at Milwaukee's newest condominium development have hit the market with prices starting at $935,000. Construction is expected to begin this summer on The Fifteens at Park East, located generally at 1540 N. Jefferson St., which will include 15 townhome-style condos on the city's Lower East Side, just north of downtown Milwaukee.
Proposed by Milwaukee-based
Cirrus Property Group, the units will be the first new, for-sale condos built in Milwaukee since 2018, according to city reports, and will be among only 25 condo units that have been built in the city since 2011.
"There's a lot of appetite for product in this area that is just new," said
Daniel Hasbani, Cirrus Property Group vice president of development. "As it relates to the structural, mechanical components of a building, but also design, I think buyers are expecting and hoping for a new product. Today, there are some townhomes in the area that have been renovated, and look very nice, but they're just not new."
Cirrus is hoping to pre-sell at least half of the units before breaking ground, Hasbani said, which will help minimize risk amid hesitancy from banks to lend to urban condo projects during a period of inflated construction costs and higher interest rates.
The units would be about 1,900 square feet each with three bedrooms and up to four bathrooms, listings show. They would also include a two-car garage on the first floor, a private balcony on the second floor and optional rooftop patio above the third floor.
Prices range from $935,000 to $1.17 million depending on the unit.
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"Part of the difficulty with this project, which is also one of the reasons that we're optimistic about it, is that there hasn't been new condominium development in so long that the comps that we are looking at are about 15 or 20 years old," Hasbani said.
Working with
Galbraith Carnahan Architects of Wauwatosa, Hasbani said the development team spend a lot of time researching what is trending in condo design in markets where condos are actually being built, like Chicago.
Founded in 2023, this project would be Cirrus' first project to break ground. The firm is working on other rental projects in the suburbs.
Hasbani and Cirrus' founder and chief executive officer
John Riordan previously worked at Menomonee Falls-based
Continental Properties, which develops apartment communities nationwide.
"Condominium development versus rental multifamily development is a totally different business model," Hasbani said. "The name of the game with condominiums is to get in and get out as quickly as possible. With with multifamily, you're thinking about different variables, the underwriting is focused on just different aspects of of the project. It's been a really enlightening experience for us."
If successful, this is a project type Cirrus would consider doing more of, according to Hasbani.
"We've already been approached by other municipalities to help them think through how they can spur new for sale development in their communities," Hasbani said.
