{"id":109576,"date":"2020-11-30T05:22:58","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T13:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rentcafe.com\/blog\/?p=109576"},"modified":"2026-04-17T01:32:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T08:32:39","slug":"adaptive-reuse-milwaukee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rentcafe.com\/blog\/rental-market\/market-snapshots\/adaptive-reuse-milwaukee\/","title":{"rendered":"40 Years of Adaptive Reuse in Milwaukee: Old Factories & Hospitals Transformed Into 3,300 Apartments"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Adaptive reuse apartment projects are on the rise nationally. In fact, a recent RentCafe study<\/a> examined this growing trend and found that, throughout the last 70 years, nearly 2,000 old buildings were converted into residential apartments in the U.S., including around 800 in the last decade alone.<\/p>\n

In particular, Milwaukee ranked in the top 10 cities nationally, with 36 old buildings reborn as rentals \u2014 a tie with Cleveland and ahead of much larger cities like Dallas, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Chicago took first place with 91 converted apartment buildings.<\/p>\n

As a former industrial center and harbor city on the west shore of Lake Michigan, Milwaukee has had its fair share of warehouses, factories, tanneries and other buildings that sustained the trade business. But now, decades later, those buildings are being converted to sustain a different type of market: housing. For instance, one of Milwaukee\u2019s most recognizable warehouses \u2014 the F. Mayer Boot & Shoe Company \u2014 is now The Fortress<\/a>, serving as loft apartments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n