Development planned for Walker’s Point
Mandel Group proposes offices
A riverfront office development featuring up to 275,000 square feet is being proposed for Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood by the Mandel Group Inc.
Milwaukee-based Mandel Group said Friday the project would combine multiple properties, including the Wisconsin Cold Storage site on E. Florida St. and riverfront parcels owned by Kurth Corp. The overall development would cover seven acres, and require the demolition of a dormant 12story grain elevator at the southern end of the development site.
A public riverwalk would connect the development with future projects north and south of the site, and boat landings and waterfront businesses would be encouraged.
“We’re very excited with the potential for this site and believe that it adds an appealing level of texture and excitement to the river frontage,” Robert B. Monnat, partner and chief operating officer for Mandel Group, said in a statement. “The office experience and urban setting will be unlike any other opportunity in Milwaukee, much more akin to what you see in redeveloped European port cities.”
The riverfront plans — preliminary at this time, Mandel Group stressed — call for two new buildings. A long, gallerylike structure named “Vista” would contain 100,000 square feet of office space, with 65,000 on the main floor and a mezzanine second floor with 35,000. The space would offer “expansive views of the Milwaukee River and downtown skyline through its dramatic, 400-footlong glazed facade that faces toward the river,” Mandel Group said.
The Vista building would have a 150-car indoor parking facility.
A second riverfront building is proposed in the location of the grain elevator. Called “Overlook” by Mandel Group, the seven-story mixed-use structure would contain 60 internal parking stalls, a 6,500square-foot commercial first floor facing onto the adjoining public park space and four office floors of 15,000 each. A third-floor green roof and commons area would provide amenities for tenants.
The name Overlook is derived from a 30-foot cantilever that would extend over the riverwalk and up to the water’s edge, Mandel Group said.
A third mixed-use building is planned on the adjoining Cold Storage property, combining repurposed portions of the existing historic buildings with new construction. The Cold Storage site also may include a low-rise parking structure and additional surface parking.
Mandel Group said William H. Bonifas, executive vice president of CBRE, has been working with the firm and the project architect, Jim Shields, of HGA Architects and Engineers, to refine the concepts for each building.
Bonifas said each building can attract unique users look-
ing to make a memorable, competitive brand statement through its office environment.
“Technology and professional service companies are well aware of the changes occurring in the workplace,” Bonifas said in a statement. “The latest generation of employees is keenly dialed into the quality of their work environment, with the best talent attracted to companies that show specific interest in providing creative, collaborative work settings for their associates.”
The timetable for the development is not set yet.
“These types of developments are user-driven” Monnat said. “As you’re seeing with any major downtown undertaking, the gestation period can be as little as 12 months or as long as several years. We will continue to flexibly refine this opportunity and be responsive to inquiries as they arise.”