The annual CARW & NAIOP Wisconsin Market Update brought together hundreds of commercial real estate professionals to dig into the latest trends shaping the investment, office, retail, and industrial markets across Wisconsin.
Our emcee, Brad Amundsen with Associated Bank, opened the event with remarks recognizing our many partners who made this program possible, including our presenting sponsor Midloch Investment Partners, breakfast sponsor F.I.R.E (First-Ring Industrial Redevelopment Enterprise), and data partner Moody’s. We also extend our appreciation to networking sponsor Reinhart Attorneys at Law, event sponsor Pinnacle Construction, and a strong lineup of table sponsors, including Colliers, Cushman & Wakefield | Boerke, ICAP Development, Mid-America Real Estate, Marquette University Center for Real Estate, UW–Milwaukee Lubar College of Business, Westbury Bank, Zilber Property Group & Henricksen.
From Midloch Investment Partners, Alyssa Geisler highlighted the firm’s continued commitment to investing in Wisconsin real estate and partnering with local operators on both Milwaukee urban and statewide projects. F.I.R.E underscored the role of New Markets Tax Credits in bringing affordable equity to projects in low-income census tracts, while Moody’s reaffirmed its role as CARW’s official data partner, supporting a data-driven view of the market.
Our presenters then provided deep dives into their respective sectors:
- Investment Market – Heather Dorfler, Cushman & Wakefield | Boerke
Heather outlined how Wisconsin continues to outperform, with 2025 sales volume above historical averages and strong activity in industrial and multifamily. She highlighted the looming 2026 debt maturity wall, evolving cap rates by asset class, and growing opportunity in distressed and value-add deals. - Office Market – Matt Hunter, Hunter Real Estate
Matt showed that Milwaukee’s office story is more resilient than national headlines suggest, with downtown outperforming the suburbs for many users seeking talent and high-quality space. He covered return-to-office trends, the flight to quality, suburban vs. downtown tradeoffs, a surge in office-to-multifamily and medical conversions, and how AI is reshaping building operations without replacing brokerage and advisory expertise. - Retail Market – Fred Stallé, Mid-America Real Estate
Fred framed e-commerce as “jet fuel” for brick-and-mortar, not its demise, emphasizing “clicks to bricks” strategies and strong performance across active categories such as off-price, fitness, QSR/fast casual, automotive, and financial institutions. He highlighted notable grocery, entertainment, and junior-box redevelopments, and noted that rents have largely stabilized after several years of rapid growth. - Industrial Market – Kyle Fink, Colliers
Kyle detailed a still-strong industrial sector with healthy absorption, meaningful speculative construction, and distinct dynamics across the west, north, central, and south/Kenosha submarkets. He pointed to the rise of data centers, power constraints, nearshoring/onshoring, and ongoing construction cost pressures, while expressing confidence in Milwaukee’s ability to attract headline tenants and support future large-scale industrial deals.