Online retailer plans new Walker’s Point HQ
Wantable hopes to develop nearby 2-story building
Online retailer Wantable Inc. plans to expand its headquarters and move into a Walker’s Point industrial building that will be redeveloped.
Renovations at the two-story, 27,000-square-foot building, 123 E. Walker St., are to begin “as soon as possible,” with completion by year’s end, said Jalem Getz, Wantable chief executive officer.
The fast-growing company, a subscription box apparel retailer, now has its headquarters around the block, at 112 E. Mineral St. The company leases around 20,000 square feet there.
Wantable needs more space for its 80 headquarters employees, Getz said Wednesday.
The new building could eventually accommodate up to 200 headquarters employees, he said. Wantable also has roughly 60 to 70 employees at its distribution center near Mitchell
International Airport.
The vacant Walker Street building, which is owned by Rockwell Automation Inc., is being sold to Republic Holdings LLC, an investment group operated by Getz, according to a new zoning change application filed with the Department of City Development.
The building’s renovations will cost $3.5 million, according to the filing.
Along with offices, the development will include a Wantable Cafe on the first floor, Getz said.
That cafe will be open to both employees and the public, he said, giving people a new work space where they can also interact with Wantable employees.
Wantable is seeking a liquor license to operate that space as an evening events venue, Getz said.
“We want to create a welcoming environment,” he said.
A second development phase, to occur in 2021, involves creating a rooftop patio for employees, as well as a possible residential unit.
Both Wantable’s current and future headquarters are within Milwaukee’s new Harbor District.
The new offices would require a zoning change from industrial heavy to industrial commercial. That would need Common Council approval.
Wantable, which Getz founded in 2011, continues to grow.
In 2018, it raised $1.44 million in new equity financing, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company in 2017 dropped plans to buy a former supermarket in Milwaukee’s Clarke Square neighborhood and convert it into its new headquarters.
That building, 1818 W. National Ave., is being replaced by the future home of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School.