A Walker's Point apartment building sold to a California investment firm for $16.8 million, according to state property records.
Element, which opened in 2022 at 924 S. 5th St., was sold by an affiliate of its developer, Milwaukee-based
New Land Enterprises, to affiliates of Costa Mesa, California-based
Hilbert Properties.
Hilbert Properties in 2021
purchased another New Land building in Walker's Point with the acquisition of the 48-unit Quartet for just under $12 million.
New Land's relationship with Hilbert partly drove the firm to sell the property, according to New Land managing director
Tim Gokhman.
"
New Land rarely sells the buildings we develop, and we weren’t actively seeking to sell Element," Gokhman said. "...We already had a great relationship with the buyer — they purchased Quartet from us — and our investor wanted to sell."
Investors
often drive decisions on sales, returns and other major decisions, Gokhman added.
The six-story building, which also has commercial space on the first floor, has an assessed value of $10.2 million, according to Milwaukee County records. The building's residential units are regularly more than 95% occupied, according to Gokhman.
At 66 units, the sale breaks down to about $254,500 per unit, which is less than New Land's cost estimates for two other proposed and postponed apartment building's in Walker's Point, Via and Forma.
"This underscores the need for city assistance on workforce housing, which Element, Via and Forma all meet," Gokhman said.
The City of Milwaukee recently
unveiled updated guidelines for tax incremental financing, outlining support specifically for projects that set units aside for renters making between 60% and 100% of the area median income
— also known as workforce housing. Local developers, including Gokhman, have criticized the city's plan.
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