259 South St., Waukesha
Neighborhood: Downtown Waukesha
Founded: 2015
Owner: Jeremy Bartlett
Service: Architectural design
How long have you been in downtown Waukesha?
Jeremy Bartlett, principal owner: “I was at a commercial architecture firm for about 16 years before I started the business. When I started, I was a sole practitioner, and when I hired my first employee about seven years ago, I really wanted to get a space to conduct business more professionally. I had a good friend, Ryan O’Neil, who owns Shiny Side Up Creative. They’re right next door and he owned the building, and the storefront was vacant at the time and he offered to lease it. We bought the building a few years later.”
Who are your clients?
“We do senior care, religious, animal wellness and health care, which includes dental and recreational projects. Those are our main sectors. We’re working on Evin Senior Living in Oconomowoc and Castle Senior Living in New Berlin, for instance.”
How has downtown Waukesha changed since you’ve been there?
“For a lot of years, downtown really struggled to gain momentum. But especially in the last five years it’s really started to take off. If you walk around, there’s barely any empty storefronts. And when I first moved there, I’d say one in every three or one in every four was vacant. Businesses have also been putting resources into fixing up their properties.”
What’s it like to work at Thrive Architects?
“We have 13 employees. We opened a second office in Appleton two years ago, and a Madison office earlier this. Collaboration is really important for us. People always ask, ‘Oh, who did that design?’ It’s truly a team effort.” n
