“There’s just so much demand, the vacancy rate is so low in Madison, it’s almost ‘build it and you fill it,’” Matt Brink said. “If anyone had the option to residential versus office, I believe the vast percentage would consider residential first.”

That’s not an option for the Brinks’ project, which is zoned for Traditional Employment. Even so, Matt Brink said conversations with brokers and employers have shown “unequivocally” enough demand to fill the office building right now.

“There is a really strong demand to come into the East Wash corridor,” Matt said. “The market is telling us that it’s there.”

The site has many nearby amenities attractive to employers, the Brinks said, with Capitol views and easy access to places like The Sylvee theater and Breese Stevens field. Office space in urban infill areas, as opposed to suburban employment parks, is “more in vogue” than it was a few years ago, Matt Brink said.

Eventually, the Brinks would like to bring an apartment building to the East Main Street side of the block, because a mix of uses keeps the site more activated, said Doug Hursh, an architect with Potter Lawson who is working on the project. With just employment, the block would “die on the weekends,” he said.

Having mixed uses also helps accommodate parking needs for the site, Hursh said. The office space will take up parking during business hours, while apartments, hotel and retail space will take over on weekends and evenings.

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