It doesn’t feel all that long ago that Milwaukee,Wisconsin and the rest of the country was coming out of the worst financial crisis in a lifetime after the housing market and stock market crashed in 2008. But by 2010,as the rest of the country was starting to bounce back,Milwaukee embarked on a historic comeback,marked by strong financial indicators and a building boom.
At one point in time,U.S. Bank had the tallest building in the area,at a whopping 42 stories. But in the last 10 years,more and more structures have popped up,including the $524M Fiserv Forum arena,the massive home of the Milwaukee Bucks.
With all of this building has come an increased demand for temporary housing and short term rentals,as more and more people are looking to work in the newly revitalized city. It’s a trend that has been occuring in other big cities across the United States as the economy has continued to improve,including in Downtown Chicago.
Rocky Marcoux,the commissioner of the Department of City Development,points to certain investment numbers to show just how much the boom is helping Milwaukee,especially in District #21. The district includes the the booming downtown city center and has seen about $5B in development since 2005 alone – and that’s just one district in the city. In less than 20 years,experts expect that number to rise to $7.7 in additional development in the city center. This could include retail spaces,restaurants and corporate housing.
Marcoux points to housing numbers as well to demonstrate just how much development has increased in the same period. About 11,000 housing units have been built in downtown Milwaukee,and another 8,000 have been constructed in nearby neighborhoods.
“Once you factor in that in the past 15 years,give or take,we had the greatest recession since the Great Depression,and there was really no measurable activity during that time,that makes the numbers even more impressive,” he said.