Dive Brief:
- The unfinished Edison Tower in Milwaukee, once billed by developer Neutral as “the tallest massive wooden building in America”, could reach the market after a judge entered a judgment of foreclosurethe Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
- On June 29, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Glenn Yamahiro granted a default judgment to general contractor CD Smith Construction Inc. The outlet reported that the contractor, who could sell the property to another developer if he ends up with the site, will have to make an additional filing before the judge issues a foreclosure order.
- Neutral CEO Nate Helbach requested that CD Smith submit its foreclosure case to an arbitrator. However, Yamahiro ruled that the request was improperly filed by Helbach, who is not an attorney, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Neutral and Benjamin Prinsen, an attorney representing CD Smith Construction, did not respond to Multifamily Dive’s request for comment.
Diving knowledge:
On March 6, CD Smith Construction of Fond du Lac, Wis filed to request the foreclosure sale of the package at 1005 N. Edison St. in Madison, claiming he was owed $11.3 million, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. He sued neutral subsidiaries The Edison SPE and The Edison Project LLC.
After Neutral began building The Edison in June 2025, the the mixed-use project received a lot of hype as the tallest solid wood building in the United States.
However, Work in neutral break on the project in September as a temporary measure to cut costs and optimize the budget amid tariff and inflationary pressures, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In October 2025, a city official told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the project was facing a $25 million funding gap. The lawsuit named 11 other firms that have filed unpaid bills related to the development, including Chicago-based Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture.
In November 2025, CD Smith removed the construction crane from the site and filed a lien in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, claiming it was owed $10.1 million, the outlet reported. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the developer had done ground work and made other improvements to the site.
The impact of tariffs may have played a role. The National Association of Home Builders reported the US imports a third of the wood it consumes. Eighty-five percent of this product comes from Canada.
Last August, just before Neutral halted construction, the US Commerce Department it goes more than doubling its functions in Canadian lumber from 6.74% to 14.63%. As a result of this action, countervailing and anti-dumping duties Canadian lumber jumped from 14.5% to 35%, according to the NAHB.
Still, it’s hard to tell if tariffs were the only issue that stopped construction. Prior to the Edison project, Neutral had successfully developed multifamily projects. In Madison, for example, the company built the 206-unit Bakers Place project. Each apartment has exposed solid wood, a controlled microclimate and designer interiors.
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