The developer of The Edison, downtown Milwaukee’s next high rise apartment tower, anticipates the project will see 2.4% cost increases under new tariffs imposed and proposed by President Donald Trump. Developed by Madison-based Neutral, construction on the 32-story, 378-unit tower at 1005 N. Edison St. began last month after the firm secured $133.3 million in
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Construction work at The Edison site in March.[/caption]
For materials Neutral does get from international suppliers, Helbach said the firm is exploring domestic alternatives for its projects that are planned or under construction. Materials the firm is monitoring closest include mechanical systems, appliances, façade assemblies, mass timber and specialty interior finishes.
For The Edison, these materials aren't expected to arrive in the U.S. until next spring.
"With 13 months between now and the expected delivery window, there is still significant uncertainty regarding how trade negotiations will evolve," Helbach said. "For example, during our recent webinar, Forest Economic Advisors suggested that mass timber may be exempt from new tariffs under the Trump administration’s executive order on reciprocal tariffs. That said, policy continues to shift almost daily, and it remains challenging to accurately predict where things will stand a year from now."
Neutral has modeled a "worst-case outcome" based on reciprocal tariffs proposed in an April 2 executive order that were then paused on April 9.
Neutral estimates a $4,006,876 increase in total construction costs for The Edison development, which is equivalent to approximately a 2.4% rise across affected trades and would