Milwaukee had the second most apartments converted from office space in the nation in 2023 with many more on the horizon. That’s according to a new report from Santa Barbara, California-based RentCafe, which recorded 216 apartments coming on the market in Milwaukee last year at former office buildings. Those units are concentrated in two projects:
Milwaukee had the second most apartments converted from office space in the nation in 2023 with many more on the horizon.
That's according to a new report from Santa Barbara, California-based RentCafe, which recorded 216 apartments coming on the market in Milwaukee last year at former office buildings. Those units are concentrated in two projects: the Journal Commons project in downtown Milwaukee's Westown neighborhood and the Streetcar Flats project in East Town.
Journal Commons, 333 W. State St., delivered 141 apartment units from the former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel facility. That project was led by Milwaukee-based development firm J. Jeffers & Co.
The remaining 75 units are in a historic building at 828 N. Broadway, which was formerly known as the Underwriters Exchange Building. That project was led by Chicago-based Catapult Real Estate Solutions.
"The adaptive reuse market does show a bifurcation between high-end and low-end markets," said Doug Ressler, senior analyst for RentCafe sister company Yardi Matrix, in the report. "This is particularly evident in the commercial real estate sector, where a sizable portion of office vacancies are found in older buildings with reduced functionality and lack of modern amenities."
"Although these buildings pose challenges for conversion into residential spaces due to factors like building age, size, configuration, and location, repurposing them helps alleviate the shortage of rental units at diverse price points, especially in areas where vacant or underused (office) buildings are prevalent," Ressler said.
[caption id="attachment_590341" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Streetcar Flats in downtown Milwaukee. Image from Catapult Real Estate Solutions[/caption]
Milwaukee's 216 converted units is tied for second place with Indianapolis. The city with the most apartments converted from office space was Peachtree Corners, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, the study found.
The report points to nearly 1,800 apartment units that could be created in Milwaukee from planned or prospective adaptive reuse project. 811 of these units are from existing office properties, 272 from warehouses, 200 from storage facilities and 195 from former factories. Milwaukee ranks 18th nationally for future apartment conversions.
RentCafe sister company and report compiler Yardi Matrix did not immediately respond to a request for comment on specifically which buildings the 1,800 figure includes.
The report notes that, nationally, office conversions are down from the past few years and much of the 2010s, though conversions from hospitality to residential are up. When accounting for office and hotel conversions, Milwaukee does not rank in the top 10 cities.
