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The former home of the North Shore Library in Glendale could be converted into a self-storage facility as part of a broader development planned by a firm known for creating mixed-use districts.

The developer behind a long-vacant Pabst Farms site once envisioned for office and retail is now looking to use the site for housing. A proposal submitted on May 7 by Harbor Bay Ventures Chief Operating Officer Brian Bell on behalf of two Harbor Bay subsidiaries — developer Pabst Farms Development Inc. and property owner Village Square Holdings LLC — calls for several hundred units of housing, with more than half the development set aside for seniors.

Milwaukee-based real estate development and investment firm Cobalt Partners Inc. is proposing a mixed-use development district at 6800 N. Port Washington Road in Glendale, according to public records. The project, named Coventry Commons, would incorporate retail and commercial business, multi-family residential, indoor self-storage and open space.

enosha's Harbor District's growth and development was firmly in the spotlight at a special ceremony Wednesday. City officials and development partners held a ribbon-cutting for the Karrick Apartments, marking the first completed block of the $450 million, nine-block Kenosha Harbor District redevelopment project.

A second housing development in the Kenosha Harbor District could break ground before year’s end, with the City Plan Commission scheduled to hold an initial conditional use permit hearing for the project later this week.

Milwaukee-based development firm Cobalt Partners has changed its plans to move its office to a different floor of a Historic Third Ward building along I-794. The firm has now purchased two commercial condominium units on the fourth floor of the Commission House building at 400 N. Broadway. The firm paid $1.5 million for the condos, which total 5,600 square feet of space, according to state records.

Looking ahead, AI is poised to become not just a tool—but a foundation—for how real estate is developed, marketed, operated, and invested in. The shift will be from reactive decisions to predictive strategies that anticipate need, mitigate risk, and unlock value.

The rise of AI has prompted concern across many industries, and real estate is no exception. Will automation replace brokers, analysts, appraisers, or asset managers? The short answer: no—but it will change how they work. AI is best at handling repetitive, data-heavy tasks—like property valuation, lead scoring, and scheduling. This frees professionals to focus on high-value activities: strategy, negotiation, relationship-building, and creative problem-solving.

One-size-fits-all marketing is quickly becoming obsolete. AI-powered personalization tools are enabling developers and brokers to deliver customized content, offers, and messaging to prospects based on real-time behavior and preferences.

Finding the next high-growth neighborhood or submarket has always been a mix of research, experience, and intuition. AI is shifting that equation by offering a new, predictive lens for identifying emerging real estate opportunities before they hit the mainstream radar.

Fund managers overseeing diversified portfolios must analyze performance across markets, asset types, and strategies—often in real time. Machine learning is streamlining this process by automating reporting, identifying performance drivers, and surfacing investment opportunities earlier.

Risk is inherent in any real estate investment, but AI is helping investors and developers better understand, quantify, and mitigate that risk. From credit analysis to construction delays and tenant default probabilities, AI can process vast datasets to uncover patterns that signal potential vulnerabilities.

Traditional appraisals rely on historical data, comparable properties, and subjective judgment—all of which can lead to wide variations in value assessments. AI is disrupting this process by offering real-time, data-driven property valuation models that enhance accuracy and speed.

One of the most valuable advantages in real estate development is the ability to identify emerging markets before they become widely recognized. Developers who can anticipate growth trends often acquire land and begin projects before competition intensifies. Predictive analytics powered by artificial intelligence provides a powerful method for identifying these early signals.

Job site oversight is essential to keeping projects on track, on budget, and safe. But traditional site supervision is resource-intensive and often reactive. Enter drones, powered by AI-enabled analytics, which are giving developers real-time visibility into construction progress and performance like never before.

The architectural design process is undergoing a dramatic evolution thanks to generative design—a form of artificial intelligence that uses algorithms to rapidly explore and evaluate thousands of potential design solutions. For real estate developers, this means unlocking more efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective outcomes without compromising creativity or functionality.

One of the most exciting applications of artificial intelligence in real estate is in construction management. AI-driven scheduling and budgeting tools are reducing costly delays, improving labor efficiency, and increasing financial predictability—especially critical in large-scale, mixed-use, and urban redevelopment projects.

Zoning decisions are foundational to real estate development, but they are also one of the most uncertain and politicized aspects of the process. AI is helping both municipalities and developers navigate this complexity by modeling land use scenarios, forecasting policy impacts, and identifying the highest and best use of land within a regulatory context.

Mixed-use developments are complex ecosystems that combine residential, commercial, and public spaces into a single, cohesive environment. Designing and managing these spaces effectively requires balancing a wide range of variables: pedestrian flow, parking demand, peak energy usage, retail foot traffic, and tenant compatibility. Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming an indispensable tool for optimizing these dynamic environments.

In real estate development, timing and precision are everything. Feasibility studies play a crucial role in determining whether a project moves forward—but they’ve traditionally been time-consuming, labor-intensive, and reliant on incomplete or outdated data. Today, artificial intelligence is redefining the process, delivering smarter and faster feasibility insights that help reduce risk and improve confidence in early-stage decision-making.