Deal of the Week

Bucyrus buys former Midwest Airlines HQ campus
Bucyrus International Inc. announced that it has purchased the former Midwest Airlines corporate headquarters campus at 6744 S. Howell Ave. in Oak Creek.
Bucyrus will move its corporate headquarters from 1100 Milwaukee Ave., South Milwaukee, three miles west to the former Midwest Airlines headquarters campus, which consists of 120,833 square feet of office space in two buildings and 761 parking spaces on a 27-acre site.
The new location will improve regional access to the Bucyrus corporate headquarters, because the Oak Creek property is much closer to I-94 than the South Milwaukee property.
The company will continue to operate its South Milwaukee factory at its current headquarters location, but it needs more office space to accommodate its growth. The company’s corporate functions, including its senior management, will be moved to the Oak Creek campus.
Bucyrus, which manufactures mining equipment, has grown significantly in recent years and in February closed on the acquisition of the mining division of Terex Corp. With that acquisition, the company says it will create approximately 700 jobs in the Milwaukee area in the next 2 to 3 years.
That means the company needs more office space, which is why it is purchasing the Oak Creek campus.
“With the recent acquisition of the mining division of Terex Corporation, our employee base has increased and we need more space to accommodate the growth that will take place in the coming years,” said Tim Sullivan, president and CEO of Bucyrus. “We’ve got a lot of opportunity to export our equipment from South Milwaukee to developing markets around the world. We’re still one of the fastest growing companies in the United States and we are proud to be able to provide good paying job opportunities in this particular economy.”
Bucyrus purchased the former Midwest Airlines corporate campus from Lake Forest, Ill.-based The Westminster Funds, which leased the facility to the airline. The sale of the property closed on Friday, May 28. The sale price was not disclosed. The list price for the property was $14.9 million.
Last year Midwest Airlines was acquired by Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc. Republic is eliminating the Midwest Airlines brand and is merging the airline into Frontier Airlines. Republic is adding about 800 jobs in Milwaukee, but has moved its Milwaukee area operations out of the Oak Creek corporate campus to Mitchell International Airport. In addition, some corporate jobs in Milwaukee were consolidated into the company’s Indianapolis headquarters.
Midwest Airlines’ lease with The Westminster Funds for the Oak Creek campus would not have expired until 2018. However, with the sale to Bucyrus that lease has been terminated, said Bucyrus spokeswoman Shelley Hickman.
Bucyrus plans to renovate the Oak Creek buildings and will move its corporate staff there in about 3 to 5 months, Hickman said.
The sale of the buildings should provide a property tax boost to the city of Oak Creek. Midwest Airlines did not pay property taxes on the property under a state property tax exemption for airlines with hub facilities in the state.