Nearly one year into construction, the total makeover of Northwestern Mutual’s North Office Building at its downtown Milwaukee corporate headquarters campus is beginning to take shape.
The company is overhauling the 18-story building at 818 E. Mason St. into a miniature version of its 32-story Tower and Commons building next door as part of a $500 million project.
The building’s interior has been gutted, its granite facade has been stripped and new steel beams are being installed to give it the distinctive curve to match its taller twin.
“This whole project is about doubling down in Milwaukee,” said Tracy Lutterman, assistant director of construction management at Northwestern Mutual. “This is our home headquarters. We want to invest here, invest in our employees and the community.”
Renovations of the 1990 building began last November with crews working top-down to remove the building’s exterior, diverting 1.3 million pounds of waste in the process, according to Lutterman.
A “weather wall” was installed to protect the core of the building from the elements while crews expand each of the floor plates, adding 40,000 square feet in new space (creating a 540,000-square-foot building) and giving the once-square building its new curvature.
Once that work is complete, a glass curtain will be added to the exterior next year.
Having seen no delays in construction so far, the building is still set to open in 2027, Lutterman said.
The project prepares the insurance giant to move about 2,000 workers to downtown Milwaukee from its campus in Franklin.
Upon completion of the North Office Building, Northwestern Mutual’s downtown campus will be able to house up to 9,000 employees. The company has a current roster of 8,000 employees mostly spanning Milwaukee, Franklin and New York City.
A multi-story western addition of the building has been removed to make way for a new community-facing structure that spans North Cass Street. The space will house a conservatory and event space, which will connect the parking garage to the west with the North Office Building. The space could also include retail space like a restaurant.
Construction work is being led by Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co. in partnership with Milwaukee’s CG Schmidt Inc. These two, like many on the project team, also worked together on the Tower and Commons project.
