Dive Brief:
- The unfinished Edison tower in Milwaukee, once billed by developer Neutral as “the tallest mass timber building in America,” could hit the market after a judge granted a foreclosure judgment, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
- General contractor C.D. Smith Construction Inc. was granted default judgment on June 29 by Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Glenn Yamahiro. The outlet reported that the contractor, which could sell the property to another developer if it ends up with the site, will need to make an additional filing before the judge issues a foreclosure order.
- Neutral CEO Nate Helbach requested that C.D. Smith submit its foreclosure case to an arbitrator. However, Yamahiro ruled the request was improperly filed by Helbach, who is not an attorney, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Neutral and Benjamin Prinsen, an attorney representing C.D. Smith Construction, didn’t reply to Multifamily Dive’s request for comment.
Dive Insight:
On March 6, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin-based C.D. Smith Construction filed to seek the foreclosure sale of the parcel at 1005 N. Edison St. in Madison, claiming it was owed $11.3 million, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. It sued Neutral affiliates The Edison SPE and The Edison Project LLC.
After Neutral broke ground on The Edison in June 2025, the mixed-use project received significant hype as the tallest mass-timber building in the United States.
However, Neutral paused work on the project in September as a temporary measure to reduce costs and optimize the budget amid tariff and inflation pressures, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In October 2025, a city official told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the project faced a $25 million funding gap. The suit named 11 other firms that have filed for unpaid bills connected to the development, including Chicago-based Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture.
In November 2025, C.D. Smith removed the site’s construction crane and filed a lien in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, claiming it was owed $10.1 million, the outlet reported. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported reports that the developer had done foundation work and made other improvements to the site.
The impact of tariffs may have played a role. The National Association of Home Builders reported that the U.S. imports one-third of the lumber it consumes. Eighty-five percent of that product comes from Canada.
Last August, just before Neutral halted construction, the U.S. Commerce Department more than doubled its duties on Canadian lumber from 6.74% to 14.63%. As a result of that action, countervailing and anti-dumping duties on Canadian lumber jumped from 14.5% to 35%, according to the NAHB.
Still, it’s hard to know if tariffs were the only issue that halted construction. Before the Edison project, Neutral had successfully developed multifamily projects. In Madison, for example, the firm built the 206-unit Bakers Place project. Each apartment features exposed mass timber, a controlled microclimate and designer interiors.
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