Charter Wire, a division of Charter Manufacturing Co. Inc. that produces steel wire used in the auto, construction, defense, energy and lawn and garden industries in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward at 114 N. Jackson St., will move to the city’s Menomonee River Valley next year.
Charter Wire is negotiating with Milwaukee city officials to purchase an eight-acre parcel on the valley’s west side, said John Mellowes, chairman and chief executive officer of Charter Manufacturing. He declined to disclose the exact location of the parcel.
The company has about 120 workers.
Charter Wire leases the facility it is in now, Mellowes said, and that lease will expire at the end of 2009. The company plans to own its new building, he said.
While designs have not been finalized, Charter Wire wants to build a 150,000-square-foot facility in the valley, Mellowes said. The new facility will hold up to 160 workers.
The same forces that have attracted national retailers such as Anthropologie, many restaurants and residential condominium development have made the Third Ward a less-than-ideal place for manufacturing operations, Mellowes said.
“The Third Ward is becoming gentrified,” Mellowes said. “Getting trucks in and out is not easy, and our rail access is gone. Our building is also pretty old, and it’s not laid out in the most efficient way. We can do better.”
