Milwaukee-based ER Wagner Manufacturing Co. Inc. is in the process of acquiring 32 acres of land in Menomonee Falls, according to president and chief executive officer Lew Schildkraut. The scheduled closing date is Aug. 20.
Still, he said the company has no specific plans or timelines for moving its operations. It could take a year to make the decision to move, and then another two years to build and move.
“It would be extremely unlikely that we would initiative a move this year. At the earliest it would be next year at some point,” Schildkraut said. “We made the decision to buy the land because there are very few sites available in spaces we like, so we decided it was in our best interest to buy the property to fit our needs.”
The property is located east of Highway 41/45 on Old Orchard Road.
The proposed building would consist of 135,000 square feet of manufacturing space, plus 22,000 square feet of office space. The property, however, allows for up to 45,000 square feet of additional manufacturing space.
ER Wagner would need 13 to 17 acres, but it bought about 32 acres, Schildkraut said. Fifteen acres of that are non-buildable wetlands, which he said adds a unique characteristic to the property.
Schildkraut said the company has been looking at the site for the last 18 to 24 months. He said it is attractive because it is near the Highway 41/45 corridor and it is centrally located for its employees. He said 40 percent of employees live in Milwaukee and 60 percent reside outside of Milwaukee from as far away as West Bend, Hustisford, and Illinois.
As the site is eight miles away from its current location, he said employees will not have to lose their jobs or relocate.
ER Wagner has been located in Milwaukee for 115 years, the duration of its existence, and Schildkraut emphasized the company would still be in the greater Milwaukee area if it moves.
Furthermore, Schildkraut said the potential move from 4611 N. 32nd St. has more to do with ER Wagner’s current facilities. The company occupies three adjacent buildings on the property that total 160,000 square feet, and they carry challenges like disintegrating floors due to their age.
ER Wagner is also in the process of negotiating benefits with the Village of Menomonee Falls, and a public hearing for it is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 3. In addition to the potential incentives from the village, Schildkraut said the site could be purchased at an attractive price because of the proceeds from the sale of the company’s caster and wheels facility in Hustisford and the Section 1031 Tax Deferred Like-Kind Exchanges for that property.
The Hustisford facility was sold and its operations were consolidated into ER Wagner’s Milwaukee site last fall. The company has 215 employees total, with 150 to 160 in the Milwaukee facility and the rest in Brookfield, Ill., at its continuous hinge product line facility.
