American Transmission Co. is seeking permission from regulators to buy and renovate its Pewaukee corporate headquarters for a total of $91 million, according to documents filed with the state Public Service Commission.
The utility, which owns and operates more than 10,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines across Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois, currently leases the 152,000-square-foot facility at W234 N2000 RidgeView Parkway Court in Pewaukee. The lease runs through August 2026.
ATC is seeking PSC approval to purchase the building and its 14-acre site for $63 million and then to invest $28 million into improving the building. The investments would include a $12.1 million office remodel to update workstations, conference rooms and other areas “to accommodate a collaborate workspace designed to retain and attract talent based on how employees use the space post-COVID.”
Other improvements include replacement HVAC and air distribution units, replacement chiller plans and generator redundancies.
The utility is seeking to complete design and engineering work by the end of the year with construction starting in spring 2024. Work would be complete in early 2025.
The purchase of the site is contingent on the PSC approving of the project, which would also end the lease, providing a cost savings of around $456,000 per month, according to the plan documents.
If approved, the deal would mark the third sale of the ATC headquarters since it was completed in 2009. In 2012, a joint venture of Interstate Partners and Zilber Property Group sold the building to an affiliate of Chicago-based Oak Street Real Estate Capital
for $65 million.
In 2016, it was sold to an affiliate of Cleveland-based MAI Capital Management
for $81.2 million.
ATC did evaluate alternatives, including building a new facility or renovating another used facility. Those options would both have cost around $164 million each. Continuing to lease the current facility and renovating came with a $386 million price tag, according to documents submitted to the PSC.
