Crane rises at Couture site as project heads toward missing key federal deadline

Construction crews this week set up a crane needed for the Couture high-rise tower in downtown Milwaukee even as the project appears headed toward missing a deadline for the completion of a first-floor transit hub paid for with federal money.

If that connection to the city’s streetcar and a new rapid-transit line isn’t up and running by July 31, the Couture developers could be forced to pay back $1.4 million in grant funding that has yet to be spent. Excavation work at the project site has uncovered various unexpected obstacles that have made it unlikely the deadline will be hit, according to Barrett Lo Visionary Development, the developer of the project.

Barrett Lo said in a statement that construction crews had discovered more than 50 piles that had to be removed for the Couture work to proceed. Also a large We Energies transformer serving downtown had to be avoided.

“As is expected with a major construction project on a 2-acre downtown site, there have been a few unforeseen conditions encountered while working below grade,” Barrett Lo Principal Rick Barrett said in a statement.

Milwaukee officials are now working to push back both the summer deadline and a separate deadline calling for federal money received for the city’s streetcar to be spent by the end of September. The city has already spent all but $1.4 million of a $14.2 million Federal Transit Administration grant it received to lay track for the streetcar, officially named The Hop. Under a development agreement with the city, Barrett Lo is responsible for paying back any unspent federal money if the transit administration requires repayment for missing a deadline.

City officials now expect the transit concourse to be completed no later than Oct. 31, 2023 — a date that takes into account the project’s current schedule and builds in a cushion in case of further delays. Officials are now hopeful federal officials will extend their summer deadline to accommodate this revised timeline.

The Federal Transit Authority, however, doesn’t have the power to extend the separate, Sept. 30, deadline for spending the grant money. City officials are working to make sure a revision to that deadline is included in an coming federal appropriations bills.

“We believe the development challenges of the Couture have been overcome and we look forward to the completion of this exciting addition to Milwaukee’s skyline,” according to a statement from the city’s Department of City Development.

Work began on the $188 million Couture project last spring after years of delays. Crews overseen by J.H. Findorff & Son have already put up the first of the two cranes that are both to be at the site by this weekend. The installation of this first crane, now standing 175 feet tall, heralds the start of concrete foundation work on the project. As the tower takes shape over time, the crane will eventually rise to more than 600 feet.

Eric Sadler, a senior project manager at Findorff, said the crane will allow crews on the ground to move materials needed for pouring the project’s concrete foundation. The construction team had initially planned to install the crane this spring but decided to put it up this week after finding enough pile-driving work had been done.

“That’s a big milestone for us,” Sadler said. “It really triggers the start of our concrete foundation work.”

Construction crews still have about a month before they’ll drive in the last steel pile needed to support the 44-story apartment tower. The team also recently completed a new sewer line on the site to replace an old clay line. The project is still expected to wrap up in 2023.