Milwaukee-based Direct Supply Inc. held a grand opening ceremony Tuesday to celebrate the completion of the first phase of its $85 million, 500,000-square-foot expansion project.
The recently completed portion of the project is a three-story, 90,000-square-foot building.
Direct Supply, located at 6767 N. Industrial Road, on Milwaukee’s northwest side, is a supplier of equipment for nursing homes, assisted living centers and retirement communities. The company also operates a supply chain ecommerce network for those customers.
The company occupies a complex of nine, single-story buildings. The expansion project, including the recently completed structure, will consist of seven multi-story buildings that connect the existing nine buildings, created a single connected structure. The largest portion of the expansion project will consist of a four- to five-story administration building, said Bob Klein, senior vice president of corporate and legal affairs for Direct Supply.
The project will take 10 to 15 years to complete and will create about 2,500 new jobs, according to the company. "We have been hiring well over a hundred people for the past couple of years," Klein said.
The expansion project is a public-private partnership of Direct Supply, its landlord KJ Greentree LLC, the state of Wisconsin and the city of Milwaukee. The state is providing $6 million in tax credits and the city created a $13 million tax incremental financing (TIF) district for the project.
