Milwaukee-based Kahler Slater has been selected to design the new office space for Cramer-Krasselt’s Milwaukee office. Cramer-Krasselt has decided to move to a new location said Betsy Brown, general manger for the company’s Milwaukee office.
Milwaukee-based Kahler Slater has been selected to design the new office space for Cramer-Krasselt’s Milwaukee office. Chicago-based Cramer-Krasselt is the third-largest independent advertising agency in the United States. The agency has about 165 employees in its downtown Milwaukee office at 733 N. Van Buren St. The company’s lease at that location expires in August 2008.
Cramer-Krasselt has decided to move to a new location said Betsy Brown, general manger for the company’s Milwaukee office. The company occupies 50,000 square feet of space in its Milwaukee office. It is looking for another 50,000-square-foot space in a downtown building that will provide options for future expansion, Brown said. "We’ve outgrown our space," she said. "We’ve been in this space for so long, and it really doesn’t function as well as we need it to."
The company considered 25 different options for its new Milwaukee office and has narrowed them down to three sites, one in the Historic Third Ward, one in the Park East corridor and one near the Park East corridor. Two are proposed buildings and one is an existing building that would be renovated, Brown said. She declined to provide any additional details about the sites Cramer-Krasselt is considering.
"Most of the focus has been on what’s the best location," said Steve Palec, senior vice president of CB Richard Ellis, who is representing Cramer-Krasselt. The company wants to be in its new location by late summer of 2008, Brown said. So, they hope to begin construction of the new building, or of the renovations, in June.
In its work for Cramer-Krasselt, Kahler Slater will be responsible for "visioning, real estate analysis, strategic brand planning and implementation, conceptual design, architectural design, interior design and construction administration."
Kahler Slater has already conducted a vision workshop with Cramer-Krasselt employees to determine the experience they want in their new space. "(We want to) create a space that is inspirational, interactive, more collaborative and, or course, creative," said Mark Sekula, project team leader at Kahler Slater. "They’re really looking to make their strong brand and creative culture manifest in their future space."
