New York-based Whitestone Realty Capital LLC, which has been working on plans to redevelop the former malt house and grain warehouse buildings at the former Pabst brewery complex in downtown Milwaukee, has changed its plans for the project.
The original plan to was to transform the buildings, located southwest of West Juneau Avenue and North 10th Street, into 124 independent living and assisted living apartments for seniors.
However, Whitestone Realty has dropped those plans and now is planning a $26 million project to convert the buildings to 111 market rate aparmtents. The average rent will be $1,500 a month, said Michael Zukerman, chief executive officer of Whitestone Realty.
“Right now the (apartment) market is very strong,” Zukerman said.
Gorman & Company’s 100-unit Frederick Lofts apartment development, which is under construction in the former Pabst brewery, is already fully pre-leased Zukerman said.
However, two of three consultants that reviewed Whitestone’s plans for a senior living facility development at the former Pabst brewery said the project would not succeed.
“The market wouldn’t support the kind of project we wanted to do,” Zukerman said.
Whitestone hopes to close on its purchase of the malt house and grain warehouse buildings in late September or early October and plans to begin construction right away, Zukerman said. The project will take 14 months to complete, he said.