Historic Milwaukee office tower will be converted to affordable housing

A speculative real estate investment. A gas station tycoon’s HQ. A Greyhound station. The Clark Building has had several past lives.

Now, the 20-story office tower at 633 W. Wisconsin Ave. in Milwaukee will get a new chapter. Its owner, Joshua Jeffers, plans to convert part of the building to 224 residential apartments, with the great majority qualifying as affordable housing.

“This building is a great example of office properties across the country that have been experiencing declining occupancy as a result of a lot more remote working,” Jeffers said.

Jeffers said the building was 88 percent occupied when his firm bought it in 2017. But since 2021, he said occupancy has declined each year.

When his largest tenant, Milwaukee County, chose not to renew its lease in 2024, he projected it would drop office occupancy into the “low 20s.”

Now, he plans to turn the “12 or 13” uppermost floors of the building into apartments, using federal and state low-income housing tax credits...