A historic office building in downtown Milwaukee is once again being considered for conversion to apartments under a new plan filed with the city on Wednesday.
The 10-story, 133-year-old Sentinel Building, located at 225 E. Mason St., would see nine of its upper floors converted into apartments, according to preliminary plans. The plan did not specify how many apartment units would be created. The ground floor would remain dedicated to office or another commercial use.
The permit was submitted by Brookfield-based architecture and engineering firm Patera.
In 2021, Illinois-based Sentinel Suites LLC sold the building for $2.1 million to a group of investors who planned to convert the building to 33 apartments. However, in 2023, the building was sold back to Sentinel Suites LLC after the group’s conversion plans didn’t pan out.
The building was then
purchased for $1.1 million in 2023 by Florida-based MAQ Group, which is its current owner. The company did not respond to request for comment.
In 2018, the building was sold for $1.5 million and was about 50% occupied. In 2021, when the building sold for possible conversion, it was about 30% occupied.
Originally, the site featured a three-story building occupied by The Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper beginning in 1864. As the newspaper grew in circulation, the current 10-story Sentinel Building was constructed to replace the smaller building in 1893. The newspaper continued to operate at the building until 1930, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The building is among several office buildings in downtown Milwaukee where a conversion to apartments is planned or contemplated amid a softened office market.
Recently, the
owners of 310W in Westown submitted preliminary plans to convert a portion of that building into more than 200 apartments. Also in Westown, local developer
J. Jeffers & Co. is in the process of converting a portion of the Clark Building into more than 200 apartments. Within a few blocks of the Sentinel Building,
Jeffers is planning a conversion of the historic Mitchell Building and another developer team is planning a conversion of the 100 East office tower.
According to each project's most up to date plans, these conversions would add nearly 900 apartment units to Milwaukee's downtown.
