Parking garage collapses, vehicle falls into basement at Milwaukee apartment building

Parking garage collapses, vehicle falls into basement at Milwaukee apartment building

Drake Bentley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Thu, January 8, 2026 at 3:04 AM UTC

2 min read

Part of the ground level parking garage of the Empire Building, 1041 E Knapp St., Milwaukee, collapsed into the basement on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026.

Part of the ground level parking garage of an eight-story apartment building on Milwaukee's east side collapsed Jan. 7 sending a vehicle into the basement.

Milwaukee Deputy Fire Chief Ronald Firnrohr said the fire department responded to the Empire Building, 1041 E. Knapp St., around 6 p.m.

Jon Lee, 43, was inside of his vehicle just as he was about to pull out of the structure when it collapsed.

"Just as I backed up, I heard some cackling noise," Lee said. "I thought I ran something over."

Lee said he got out of his vehicle to inspect but didn't see anything unusual, so he got back into his car.

"I hop back in, put it in reverse, moved about 2 feet and heard more crackling," Lee said. "So I put it in park, and that's when the whole ground just collapsed."

Lee said he didn't report any injuries to authorities. "I was the only one that was inside the garage at the time," he said. Firnrohr said no injuries were reported.

Marisa Nash, 28, was inside her apartment when a garage in the building next-door collapsed.

"It was a super loud noise," she said. "I heard a lot of people yelling afterwards, so I wasn't sure if they were trying to help someone."

Firnrohr said the size of the collapse is equal to two small SUVs, which fell through the floor. He said as of around 7:15 p.m. it appeared work on pouring a new floor was about to begin.

Apartments are above the parking garage. The building was not evacuated. Firnrohr said officials are still investigating whether a danger exists to residents. The Department of Neighborhood Services sent a building inspector, he added. DNS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

"None of this stuff moves quickly," Firnrohr said.

The building is owned by Katz Properties. The landlord couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Parking garage collapses at Milwaukee apartment building

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