These 5 Milwaukee office buildings are prime candidates to be converted to apartments

Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

March 20, 2023 at 4:38 PM·4 min read

A series of underused downtown Milwaukee office buildings will likely be converted to apartments over the next few years.

That trend is fueled by a softening demand for office space as employers adjust to the new world of remote work combined with continuing strong demand for apartments.

Here are five larger downtown office buildings that are prime conversion candidates.

100 East

100 East, a 35-story, 435,629-square-foot building, 100 E. Wisconsin Ave., is being sold to a group led by Klein Development Inc. and developer and investor John Vassallo.

They plan to complete that purchase within a few months, and then relocate office tenants from the half-full office tower − one of Milwaukee's largest such buildings. Renovations to create around 350 apartments would likely be completed by around summer 2026, Vassallo said.

100 East opened in 1989, and was 88% leased when it was sold in 2016 for $78 million to an affiliate of Santa Monica, California-based Hertz Investment Group.

It suffered a major blow when the Michael Best & Friedrich law firm, its anchor tenant, announced in 2016 that it would move to the new BMO Tower, which opened in 2020 at 790 N. Water St. 100 East, now valued at $60.2 million, is in foreclosure.

Former Marshall & Ilsley headquarters

Irgens Development Partners LLC is working on plans to convert the former Marshall & Ilsley Bank Building, 770 N. Water St., into around 240 apartments.

That 20-story, 290,821-square-foot office tower, completed in 1968, was left empty in 2020 after its tenants moved out — with anchor tenant BMO Harris Bank moving next door to Irgens' new BMO Tower.

The firm plans to seek construction bids, but increases in construction costs, as well as higher interest rates on commercial loans, are threatening the project's feasibility, said Mark Irgens, the firm's chief executive officer.

Irgens would maintain some of the building's original design features, including the main lobby; the former bank branch to be used as new retail space, and the sixth-floor executive offices redeveloped as a lounge and other amenities for apartment residents.

AT&T Inc. local offices

AT&T Inc. downtown offices (center) were sold in 2021 to a New York firm that redevelops buildings.

AT&T Inc.'s 20-story, 219,135-square-foot building at 722-740 N. Broadway was sold in 2021 to a group affiliated with New York-based Reign Capital, which focuses on redevelopment projects.

AT&T continues to lease the building. A company representative referred questions about the property's future to Reign Capital.

Reign Capital representatives didn't respond to questions about the firm's plans for the building, the main portion of which was built in 1930.

The AT&T office tower has long been part of a communications hub in downtown Milwaukee. It is just northwest of the historic Wells Building, 324 E. Wisconsin Ave., which for decades included among its tenants the Milwaukee operations of telegram carrier Western Union.

Johnson Controls office complex

Brengel Technology Center is part of Johnson Controls' downtown complex that's been sold and will be redeveloped.

Kenosha-based Bear Development LLC is considering housing and other new uses for Johnson Controls Inc.'s downtown offices.

That includes the seven-story, 120,000-square-foot Brengel Technology Center, which opened in 2000 at 507 E. Michigan St.

Johnson Controls sold the seven buildings, totaling more than 420,000 square feet, in 2021 to a Bear Development affiliate. The company plans to relocate the downtown operations to its Glendale corporate campus.

A Johnson Controls representative didn't respond to questions about the status of those relocation plans.

Westown state office building

A downtown state office building will be listed for sale after its operations are relocated.

A nine-story, 201,200-square-foot state office building, 819 N. Sixth St., could be another conversion target, according to William Bonifas, an executive vice president at CBRE Inc. commercial real estate brokerage.

The state Department of Administration plans to seek buyers for the property after a new state office building is eventually developed south of West Wisconsin Avenue and west of North 27th Street.

The new Milwaukee state office building will be built by a private developer and leased to the DOA, with a request for proposals to be issued by early 2024.

DOA says relocating operations to the near west side and other sites would eliminate the need for $95.7 million in renovations at the downtown building, which opened in 1963.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 5 Milwaukee office buildings that could become apartments

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