Developer focuses on minority firms
Irgens: Philosophy for BMO Tower makes sense
When Mark Irgens was assembling the team to develop a downtown Milwaukee office building, he included a firm to help recruit minorityowned contractors and other disadvantaged businesses.
Three years after the 833 East building opened, Irgens is taking a similar approach with his self-named firm’s newest project: the 25-story BMO Tower. It’s among the largest commercial developments underway in the Milwaukee area.
A focus on hiring disadvantaged businesses makes good business sense, Irgens said.
That’s because widening the pool of prospective subcontractors and suppliers results in more competitive bidding for the $137 million project, he said.
And that helps Irgens develop a property that can better compete with other Milwaukee-area office buildings.
There’s also a personal motivation. Irgens recalls investors who helped him after the 1998 launch of his firm, known formally as Irgens Partners LLC.
He and his partners started the business after Irgens worked for 13 years as president of Boldt Development Corp., which was an affiliate of Appleton-based construction management firm Boldt Co.
People such as former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and William Orenstein, a veteran developer who died in 2016, helped by investing capital and providing loan credit enhancements, Irgens said.
“Nothing was given for free,” he said. “But what they did give me was opportunity. And we provided great value back,” Irgens said.
Irgens’ hiring of minority- and women-owned subcontractors and suppliers for BMO Tower drew praise from city Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux.
Marcoux said Irgens is doing both the right thing — and the smart thing.
“I think he sees it as the future of his industry,” Marcoux said.
Irgens started using disadvantaged businesses with buildings the firm developed at Wauwatosa’s Milwaukee County Research Park.
The research park requires developers to make their best efforts to hire minorityand women-owned businesses.
“It’s not an absolute requirement,” Irgens said. “But when people say it’s part of the deal, you like to live up to the deal.”
Among the buildings the firm developed at the research park was Meadowland Research and Technology Center, which opened in 2016.
Irgens hired Prism Technical Management and Marketing Services LLC, a firm led by Randy Crump, to help recruit disadvantaged firms for Meadowland.
Prism also helped find such contractors in connection with the 18-story 833 East building, which Irgens completed in 2016 at 833 E. Michigan St.
Irgens had preliminary discussions with Department of City Development officials about obtaining city financing help for 833 East.
If that had happened, it would have triggered a city requirement that contracts to disadvantaged small businesses make up 25% of construction spending and 18% of professional services, such as architecture and engineering.
Also, unemployed or underemployed Milwaukee residents must account for 40% of a project’s workforce if a development receives direct city financing help of $1 million or more.
A city financing proposal didn’t materialize for 833 East.
But Crump urged Irgens to make a greater effort to hire disadvantaged businesses.
“He said, ‘Let’s give it a shot,’ ” Crump said.
“We didn’t have any (city) subsidy,” Irgens said. “But, we thought, why would we not try to include minorityowned and disadvantaged businesses in this project?”
In the process, Prism and Irgens learned some lessons they are applying to BMO Tower, 790 N. Water St. It will be completed in December after around two years of construction.
One lesson was that small disadvantaged businesses need “to recognize how to be competitive at all times,” Crump said.
Much of Prism Technical’s work involves consulting with subcontractors and suppliers that have character but lack some of the other so-called four C’s of credit — capacity, capital and conditions, Crump and Irgens said.
Crump also helps those business operators understand they will get fair treatment in return for taking the time and money to submit a bid in connection with an Irgens project.
“Randy brings credibility to our company,” Irgens said.
BMO Tower will be anchored by BMO Harris Bank’s Wisconsin headquarters, leasing 123,000 square feet. The bank will move from its neighboring 20-story building.
The other announced tenants are the Michael Best Friedrich law firm, Heartland Advisors Inc. and Andrus Intellectual Property Law.
Irgens and its leasing agent, Colliers International, are seeking tenants for the remaining space.
Prism hasn’t yet measured how much of BMO Tower’s contracts have gone to disadvantaged businesses.
Unemployed or underemployed Milwaukee residents so far account for 7.7% of the project’s construction work hours, Crump said.
By comparison, Northwestern Mutual’s office tower, completed in 2017, hired unemployed or underemployed Milwaukee residents for 43.5% of the
“We didn’t have any (city) subsidy. But, we thought, why would we not try to include minority-owned and disadvantaged businesses in this project?” Mark Irgens
project’s construction work hours, according to a report submitted to city officials.
Prism served as Northwester Mutual’s consultant on that $404.7 million project, which includes city financing help totaling up to $50 million.
Meanwhile, Irgens’ next big downtown project is looming.
After BMO Harris moves from its current headquarters, Irgens will begin redeveloping that building.
Possible future uses include apartments and a hotel.
Crump hopes additional Milwaukee developments, including relatively small ones, will involve general contractors realizing that Milwaukee has a lot of qualified and competitive minority- and women-owned subcontractors and suppliers.
“I think (general) contractors are recognizing they can do this,” Crump said.
Tom Daykin can be emailed tdaykin@jrn.com and followed Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.