Milwaukee's Lakefront on the Rebound—Condos, Commercial, and a Streetcar

"Plans to remake Milwaukee’s lakefront have been in the works for years, and while they still face hurdles, the inclusion of a new streetcar line landing in the lobby of the 44-story Couture tower has some residential developers excited about the possibility of a downtown resurgence aided by public transit," writes Bentley.

"New renderings show a lakefront stop for the Milwaukee streetcar loop in the Couture’s lobby—a 20,855-square-foot public transportation concourse connecting passengers and passersby to bus stops and to the lakefront via a pedestrian bridge over Lincoln Memorial Drive."

In addition to the additional developer interest sparked by the streetcar plans, there are other signs of a market rebound on Milwaukee's lakefront: "along with plans to remake the lakefront War Memorial building and overhaul Northwestern Mutual’s corporate headquarters to the tune of nearly half a billion dollars….The average sale price of downtown condos is also rising."

Bentley also details the obstacles potentially blocking the streetcar from delivery, including questions about costs for relocating utilities, the Public Trust Doctrine, and the redevelopment of the downtown transit center.