Construction is quickly wrapping up on Milwaukee’s newest high-rise The Couture at 909 E Michigan Street in downtown. Located on the intersection with N Lincoln Memorial Drive across from the lakefront and art museum, the building replaced the previous Downtown Transit Center. The project is being led by Barrett Lo Visionary Development with Milwaukee-based RINKA Architecture working on its design.
View of The Couture by Ian Achong
View of The Couture by Ian Achong
Originally proposed in 2012, the project was delayed multiple times before demolition eventually began on the old windowless transit center in 2016. Since then, the development shed its original 180-room hotel component prior to breaking ground, which was further delayed due to a lawsuit and the pandemic. Phased construction eventually commenced in 2021.
View of The Couture by Ian Achong
View of The Couture by Ian Achong
Rising 44-stories and 516-feet in height, the structure has been fully topped out and mostly fully clad in its glass and white metal panel facade. The skip elevator and crane have also been removed with additional glass and metal quickly following behind. Work is also quickly progressing on its entry plaza, parking garage cover, and ground-floor transit center.
View of The Couture by Ian Achong
View of The Couture by Ian Achong
The two-story transit center will add service to the existing streetcar The Hop, with direct access to 42,000 square-feet of commercial space and over 400-vehicle parking spaces. Inside of the tower will be 322 apartments made up of studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts with two rooftop loft penthouses. The units will range from just above 500 to over 2,000 square-feet in size
View of The Couture by Ian Achong
View of The Couture by Ian Achong
Work on the $190 million tower is expected to be fully finished by the end of the year. However the first 30 floors were expedited with their interiors being built out first and move-ins having commenced in April. The upper floors are expected to start move-ins later this year and the developers expect an 18-month leasing period for full occupancy.
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You can really tell it’s a project from 2012…
I was thinking the same thing! Architecturally, it reminds me of Kingsbury Plaza or other early/mid 2010’s buildings.
The west side of the building, aka the side most people will see all the time is something else, almost like they just gave up when they got to the top.