The Marcus Corp. today said it might move its headquarters to the mixed-use development it is planning northwest of Water and Knapp streets in downtown Milwaukee’s Park East corridor.
Katie Falvey, vice president of real estate for the Marcus Corporation, said plans for the project, called Edison Place, are still taking shape, but there is a potential for Marcus Corp. to be headquartered at the site.
The Marcus Corp. currently leases about 45,000 square feet of office space at 100 East. Its lease there expires in 2019.
Milwaukee law firm Michael Best & Friedrich also plans to move out of the 100 East office building and into the $137 million BMO Harris Financial Center when the 25-story office tower opens in downtown Milwaukee in late 2019.
The $119 million Edison Place project would include an eight-screen, 56,400-square-foot movie theater complex at the southern end of the property, 162,000 square feet of residential space and 113,800 square feet of office space, according to documents made public today by Milwaukee County officials. Marcus Corp. hopes to begin construction on the Edison Place project this fall, according to documents it submitted to the county in June.
The 20-story Edison Place project would also include two restaurants that are each approximately 11,000 square feet, a café that is 4,500 square feet and a health club along the Milwaukee River, according to the documents from the county. There will be 297,000 square feet of parking.
Plans show the project will create a projected $111.3 million in incremental tax base once fully built out. Approximately 387 to 435 construction jobs will also be supported during the 20-month construction. Anticipated completion is the fourth quarter of 2019.
The development would be built on a 1.24-acre parcel of land that Milwaukee-based Marcus Corp. purchased in November 2015, for $3.1 million at 1301-1357 N. Edison St., along the Milwaukee River and near the northwest corner of Knapp and Water streets.
Marcus Corp. is working with Baltimore-based architect inPlace Design; Providence, Rhode Island-based construction firm Gilbane Building Company and Milwaukee-based engineering firm Kapur & Associates, Inc. on the Edison Place project.
Milwaukee County officials today said they have selected Marcus Corp.’s bid for a 16,000-square-foot county-owned property at the hard northwest corner of Water and Knapp. The site sits between the intersection and the site purchased by Marcus Corp. in 2015. The county-owned site will be part of the Edison Place project, but it will be used as a public plaza adjacent to the proposed building.
The Marcus Corp. and Brookfield-based Hammes Co. each bid on the county-owned site, known as Block 12, the last remaining county-owned parcel in the Park East corridor. In November, Jon Hammes said both companies had agreed to use the land as green space, which would benefit each development. Hammes is relocating his company to the northeast corner of Knapp and Water Streets with a new five-story office building at the site.
The Marcus Corp. has a 12-month option to purchase the site for $50,000. The option can be extended for up to 24 months. The site has an appraised value of $640,000. The land has about $500,000 of environmental remediation work that needs to be done before development can take place, said Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele.
It is unclear if Marcus will have to remove the contaminants since the land will be used as green space.
Abele praised the sale of the last remaining vacant Park East parcel, to the Marcus Corp. Milwaukee County owned 16 acres of land in the Park East corridor and Abele made it one of his goals to complete the corridor when he took office in 2011.
“This is a great project with great new and familiar corporate tenants here,” Abele said. “It’s something to get excited about. Two years ago, this scenario was crazy. But here we are.”
