Milwaukee-based real estate development firm Irgens plans to build a five-story office building in the city’s Historic Third Ward. The project, called One Catalano Square (named for the park it would face), is being led by Tom Irgens.
The 168,000-square-foot building is planned for a site at 100 N. Young St. It would be the first new office building in the Third Ward in many years. The building could be ready by late 2017. Construction is expected to begin by the end of this year.
The building will include ground floor retail, four levels of office space and one level of underground parking with 70 spaces.
The building will offer potential tenants large, 35,000-square-foot floor plates, which are unique in the historic neighborhood, said Aaron Ebent, with Kahler Slater Architects, the design firm for the project.
“It will allow existing companies who want to be in the Third Ward but have a hard time working around existing floor plates a unique opportunity,” Ebent said.
Irgens said before he starts construction, he wants to pre-lease enough of the building so he can secure a construction loan. Irgens is working with Colliers International Wisconsin to lease the building.
“It is evident that there is a unique affinity and passion for the Third Ward, and what Irgens has done with the concept and design of One Catalano Square is to introduce a project that embodies those qualities,” said Steve Palec, co-leasing agent and a partner with Colliers.
The building will include floor-to-ceiling glass, locker rooms with showers along with multiple rooftop terraces and two second-floor balconies. The rooftop patios will have elevator access, an enclosed tempered event room with restrooms as well as green roof elements.
BizTimes Milwaukee reported in January that Irgens had the site at 143 N. Milwaukee St. under contract to develop an office building there. Irgens also has 310 E. Erie St. under contract. Babcock Auto Springs Co., was previously located at the location. The site is a triangular-shaped lot bounded by North Young Street, East Erie Street and North Milwaukee Street.
Irgens also tried to purchase the one-story 8,679-square-foot garage at 123 N. Milwaukee St., which will be adjacent to his new building but was told the property is not for sale. It is owned by Patsy & Paul, Inc., of Elm Grove.
The Milwaukee Plan Commission approved vacating an alley on that block for future development. An office building can be built by right within existing zoning rules for the site, but no plans had been submitted to the city, said Jeff Fleming, spokesman for the Department of City Development.
In 2014, Commercial Horizons Inc., a commercial real estate development firm with offices in Green Bay and Appleton, was working on plans to develop an office building at the site, but those plans never came to fruition.
The site was one of several shown to Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren law firm late last year, when the frim began exploring its options. Reinhart’s lease expires at 1000 North Water in 2019.
The Irgens project is not the only office space development being planned in the Third Ward. A 35,000-square-foot, five-story addition is planned for the Mercantile Building in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. The building will include 5,000 to 6,000 square feet of first floor retail space and a rooftop balcony. The remaining floors would be office space that would connect to the 48,000-square-foot Mercantile Building.
