Foxconn Technology Group confirmed plans to buy a building on the Capitol Square in Madison currently owned by BMO Harris Bank to establish another innovation center in Wisconsin.
The company announced the purchase of the property at 1 W. Main St. on Friday morning. The building will be renamed Foxconn Place Madison and Foxconn says it will connect the University of Wisconsin-Madison and regional suppliers with the company’s Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park in Mount Pleasant.
BizTimes Media first reported on Foxconn’s plans to buy the property in March.
Foxconn has previously announced a number of other innovation centers around the state, including in Green Bay, Eau Claire, Milwaukee and downtown Racine. An article from The Verge this week suggested many of the projects have not made significant progress.
No purchase price for the Madison building was immediately disclosed. In purchasing other buildings around the state, Foxconn announced plans to buy the property weeks or even months before the transaction went through.
Last summer, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou announced the company would make a $100 million gift to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Part of the gift included the establishment of the Foxconn Institute for Research in Science and Technology with plans for an off-campus presence in Madison and a physical location in Mount Pleasant.
The company said Friday part of the research institute would be housed in Foxconn Place Madison and would support research and development in medical, material, computer and data sciences.
“Through it, we hope to drive advances across a number of scientific fields over many years to come,” said Alan Yeung, director of U.S. strategic initiatives for Foxconn. “These advances will not only create new technologies, they will also benefit human health and well-being.”
Foxconn said BMO and its 100 employees in downtown Madison would continue to work out of the building, leasing space from Foxconn. A bank branch located on the street level would also stay at its current location.
