[May 19. 2026] 212-unit apartment pitched for next phase of Kenosha Harbor District project (Milwaukee Business Journal)
- May 22
- 2 min read
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.
Cobalt Smith — a partnership between Milwaukee-based Cobalt Partners and C.D. Smith, a general contractor and development firm based in Fond du Lac — is working on Block B, a seven-story, 212-unit luxury apartment building comprised of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom market-rate apartment units, according to a city staff report.
Scott Yauck, founder and CEO of Milwaukee development firm Cobalt Partners, said the mixed-use project, valued at an estimated $62 million, is planned for the southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street and would include roughly 7,200 square feet of ground-floor retail.
"This building in particular, given its proximity right to the waterfront, is a highly amenitized building," said Yauck. "It includes a rooftop pool."
Block B is the second building to advance under a development agreement the city entered into with Kenosha Downtown Partners LLC in 2023, which envisions more than 1,000 apartments across nine blocks over seven to 10 years and projects more than $450 million in assessed value at full build-out.
The project is backed in part by TIF financing through the city's Tax Increment District No. 27.
The Block B development represents a redesign from the original concept in 2023, which called for a 10-story apartment featuring 188 units with townhomes along Sixth Avenue, according to the project's developer agreement. The developer said Cobalt Smith aims to break ground on Block B by fall, ahead of winter construction conditions.
Yauck said rising construction costs and interest rates prompted the pivot to a seven-story structure that stays below the 85-foot high-rise threshold, which would have otherwise triggered more expensive construction standards.
The less tall U-shaped design actually yields more units than the original plan, he said.
The ground-floor retail component, Yauck said, is planned to have three to four tenant spaces, including a potential restaurant on one corner of the building with outdoor seating and a smaller coffee shop-style user of roughly 1,200 square feet on the southeast corner.
At full build-out across nine blocks, he said, the Harbor District’s total valuation is on track to exceed $600 million, surpassing the $450 million estimate in the 2023 development agreement.
The first building, The Karrick, a 158-unit apartment tower on Block I, opened in January and is approaching 60% leased occupancy, Yauck said.