Downtown Milwaukee’s 411 Building is getting a $15 million face lift as its owners try to compete with the glitzy office towers currently under construction along the lakefront and in the suburbs.
Jeff Patterson, president and CEO of Chicago-based Riverview Realty Partners, which owns 411 E. Wisconsin Ave., said improvements to the 32-year-old building are already paying off.
Since Riverview Reality purchased the building in May 2014, occupancy has gone from 78 to 86 percent.
Riverview also just extended its lease with the Wisconsin Athletic Club for 10 years. The club leases the entire sixth floor, which is 22,638 feet. Beginning Tuesday, the club began expanding to 7,500 feet of the fifth floor. The plan is to expand its cardio and weight lifting area on the sixth floor and offer group fitness classes on the fifth floor.
Construction at the Wisconsin Athletic Club will be complete by the end of the year, Patterson said. The Wisconsin Athletic Club is paying for those renovations and did not return calls for comment.
The work Riverview is doing includes upgrade the building’s elevator systems, HVAC system, lobby, roof and adjacent parking structures.
The café on the first floor has been completely upgraded and a business lounge has been installed. A conference center for all of the buildings tenants has also been built on the first floor.
LED lighting has been added to the lobby and all of the stone on the walls and floor will be refinished.
“We want to remain competitive and one of the top five Class A buildings in the city,” Patterson said. “And frankly, we thought this would help lease the building. We’ve had success in other markets doing this program and so far, we’re having success here.”
Quarles & Brady LLP leases the most space in the 654,165-square-foot building. The law firm extend its lease 10 years in 2014. It occupies seven floors, leasing 186,000 square feet.
Northwestern Mutual also recently moved into two floors, leasing 55,000 square feet.
Riverview Realty Partners, an affiliate of Stamford, Conn.-based Five Mile Capital Partners LLC, purchased the building from a tenants-in-common ownership group. The 411 building sold for well below its assessed value of $87.7 million, according to city records.
