In a February 2024 Isthmus cover story, Nathan Helbach, the then 25-year-old CEO of up-and-coming real estate firm Neutral, acknowledged that the firm’s goal — to construct mixed-use residential buildings using mass timber and other low-carbon materials — would come with some financial risk.

“We feel that it’s only feasible if we get really good at it,” Helbach said.

Helbach was right to be concerned. Neutral is in trouble, facing more than $15 million in liens — claims on property as collateral for debt repayment — for projects in Milwaukee and Madison. An artist also recently went public about the more than $54,000 he is owed for two murals he painted on Neutral’s Bakers Place building, located at the corner of East Washington Avenue and South Paterson Street.

It’s unclear how things went so wrong for the future-focused firm whose website pledges “transparent, mutually beneficial relationships with everyone, be it a community member, investor, or resident.” Helbach did not respond to a request for comment. 

The company finished work on its first project, the 206-unit Bakers Place, in May, and opened a 33-unit building at 517 W. Main St. later in the year. A 32-story tower on Edison Street in Milwaukee was under construction, but has since stalled. Helbach told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a September statement that the company had to pause work on the Milwaukee high rise as “recent tariffs and broader inflation have materially increased key input hard costs.”

Many mass timber manufacturers are based out of Central Europe, according to a “developer’s guide” Neutral published in August 2024.

C.D. Smith Construction, the contractor for the $230 million Milwaukee project, removed its crane from the site and filed $11 million in liens on the Edison Street building in November, as well as $4.1 million against the Bakers Place building in Madison the same month.

Five other companies have filed liens against a limited liability company associated with Bakers Place, according to circuit court data: Terra Engineering & Construction Corporation filed to recover $24,000 on March 3; Angus-Young Associates Inc. filed for $77,464 on Jan. 8; Klein-Dickert Milwaukee Inc. filed for $256,971 on Dec. 17; Sign Art Studio LLC filed for $44,066 on Dec. 2; and Sergenian's Floor Coverings Inc. filed for $189,376 on Nov. 7.

An LLC associated with Neutral and registered to an address associated with the Helbach family paid $2,769.18 in interest on delinquent state taxes on Oct. 27, according to circuit court data.

Neutral also owes approximately $10,000 to Isthmus for print advertisements.

Almost half (94) of the 206 units in Bakers Place, open for 11 months, are still available for rent, according to the company’s website, well above the 6-7% vacancy rate similar properties reported in Madison’s 2025 housing snapshot. The availability of parking — the building has only 110 parking stalls — may be an issue. The company is looking to lease out 20-50 spots from the city of Madison in the nearby South Livingston street garage, according to a resolution that the city’s finance committee approved on March 16. The resolution comes before the city council Tuesday night.

Bakers Place SPE LLC currently has a contract with the city to reserve some parking spots only for nights and weekends, but tenants remain interested in “24/7 garage access,” according to a memo prepared by Christof Spieler, director of Madison’s transportation department, leading to the new contract. 

“It’s in relation to what they need to offer to their tenants to make sure that their units are marketable,” Anne Slezak, city finance and administration manager, told finance committee members on March 16.

Revenue to the city is projected to be $36,960 up to $92,400 annually, depending on how many spots Neutral seeks.

The Parking Division recommended the finance committee and city council approve the lease. However, one public commenter pointed out that the LLC behind the property has a troubled financial history.

“The owner is Bakers Place SPE LLC, an [out-of-state] corporation domiciled in Delaware. With the owner’s financial difficulties, including $5.5 million in construction liens, the city may wish to consider the contracting entity,” wrote Linda Lehnertz in a March 16 email to the finance committee.

Helbach told Isthmus in 2024 that he wanted to “democratize” real estate investments by making them more available to individual investors. Minimum equity investments for the Bakers Place project begin at $500. The company’s real estate ventures have been funded through equity — through which investors receive an ownership stake in a property and returns based on its performance— and debt financing, through which investors receive a repayment on their principal with interest.

All three of the company’s real estate projects are currently seeking investors. 

It has been more than five months since Milwaukee-based mural artist Jan Rapisarda completed two murals on the Bakers Place property. According to his contract with the limited liability company Bakers Place LLC, which owns the property, he was to be paid upon completion of the work, but he has not been paid the $54,500 he’s owed. 

“I just don't understand how it's legal,” says Rapisarda, who has painted over 100 murals during his more than 10-year career. “I don't understand how they're still operating.”

Rapisarda says the last correspondence he received from Helbach was on March 11, when Helbach wrote in an email that he expected a deal for the sale of the Bakers Place building to be closed on March 27; Helbach had previously told Rapisarda to expect payment on March 10.

In the March 11 email, Helbach also asked that Rapisarda “cease making false accusations and statements directed toward Neutral, our employees, and others, and allow the closing process to proceed so that payment can be completed,” which Rapsiarda believes was in reference to posts he had made criticizing the company on Instagram.

“Your mural work was completed for Bakers Place SPE LLC, and that entity is responsible for the final payment to you. Neither Neutral nor its partners are personally liable for that obligation,” wrote Helbach, one of three Neutral partners and the registered principal of Bakers Place SPE LLC, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. 

Helbach added that “we have been working with a specific investor to acquire Bakers Place, and the process has taken longer than anticipated due to several unforeseen issues along the way.”

Rapisarda says the ordeal has taken a significant toll on his financial and personal wellbeing. City officials and state legislators he’s reached out to have been sympathetic, but say their hands are tied. He says he doesn’t have the money to hire a private attorney and doesn’t expect to find anyone willing or able to do it pro bono. 

Says Rapisarda: “I guess I'm at a point where I don't even expect this money to come through ever.”