Plans to build the world’s tallest timber skyscraper over the site of a snow pile are now in serious doubt, with Milwaukee officials poised to debate the future of the 50-story timber tower, a key part of the $700 million activation of the Marcus Performing Arts Centre snow pile, scheduled for later today. Designed by MGA | Michael Green Architecture, a global leader in mass timber buildings, Wood Central last year reported that “the project would eventually include the tallest mass timber in the world and the tallest building in Wisconsin.”
However, plans to build the precinct, dubbed by Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee’s Mayor, as key “to grow our city’s population to one million Milwaukeeans,” were thrown into jeopardy after the developer, Neutral, paused work on the 31-storey Edison development – poised to use 100,000 cubic feet of lumber in its construction, a mere hop, skip and jump from the site over concerns around tariffs and inflationary creep.
Last month, Nate Helbach, CEO of Neutral, said that “recent tariffs (including a 15% tariff on mass timber imported from the European unoin) and broader inflation have materially increased key input hard costs,” forcing Neutral to pause the project: “Pausing to value-engineer is a difficult but prudent step to safeguard the long-term success of 1005 N. Edison. Our focus remains on delivering a resilient, exceptional building for Milwaukee.”
In April, Wood Central reported that Helbach was taking steps to reduce its exposure to Trump’s tariffs, which, once they take effect, will impact materials entering the United States. At the time, Helbach stated that under a worst-case scenario, tariffs could result in a $4 million increase in costs (or 2.4% across affected trades—a figure that is far below the 15% tariff that will be applied to all mass timber upon entry).
However, last month, Wood Central reported that under a new draft framework being thrashed out between EU and US trade officials, shipments of European cross-laminated timber and glulam could be hit with 15% tariffs as part of the European Union’s new trade deal with the United States.
- To learn more about Neutral’s approach to mass timber development, click here for Wood Central’s special feature. And to learn more about the 50-story skyscraper, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from July 2024.
