is a 98 unit loft apartment property located on the south edge of downtown Milwaukee, WI. The property contains 28 – 1 Bedroom/1 Bath, Sixty (60) 2 Bedroom/2 Bath and Ten (10) 3 Bedroom/2 Bath units. The property has 69 Low Income Housing Tax Credit units with a mix of 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% AMI. There are 29 market rate units.
The Fifth Ward Lofts are located in downtown Milwaukee, directly across the Milwaukee River from the Historic Third Ward. The property is within walking distance of many trendy shops and restaurants. It is also within close proximity to the city’s highway system, Lake Michigan and the 75 acre grounds of Milwaukee’s famous Summer Fest that takes place every June/July.
The project is well known for having active commuter train tracks running along two sides of the building. In addition, it has three internal courtyards and wide amenity offerings that include: a rooftop deck, community room, theater, golf room and fitness center. The pioneering development was the first residential project in the area and has been credited by the city with significant residential, restaurant, and retail development in the surrounding neighborhood.
A new owner could acquire this apartment property and add value by moving all rents to market rate through the qualified contract process once the final three years of the Section 42 Compliance Period come to an end.
The Historic Fifth Ward Lofts are located on the industrial edge of downtown Milwaukee, WI. Milwaukee is the largest city in the State of Wisconsin with an estimated population of 597,867. The greater Milwaukee MSA has a total population of 2,025,098.
Milwaukee is the home to the international headquarters of 5 Fortune 500 companies: Johnson Controls, Northwestern Mutual, Manpower, Rockwell Automation and Harley-Davidson. The Milwaukee metropolitan area ranks fifth in the USA in terms of the number of Fortune 500 company headquarters as a share of the population. The local economy also has a large number of financial service firms, particularly those specializing in mutual funds and transaction processing systems, as well as several publishing and printing companies.
Multiple sources have reported that the Milwaukee multifamily market is as healthy as it has ever been, especially with the return of private equity to the market. Vacancy and rents are trending in the right direction, even with significant additions to existing product in the past two years. Solid supply and demand fundamentals and a slow recovery in the for-sale market will continue to drive growth in the Milwaukee rental market for at least the next 3 to 5 years.
Due to these strong supply and demand fundamentals, the market is expected to improve upon the current 4% overall vacancy in the apartment market, with New York–based market research firm Reis forecasting vacancies between 3 percent and 4 percent through 2015.
