Milwaukee-based Midwest Stairs & Iron is planning an expansion driven in part by a $4.5 million contract to install all of the stairs in the Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons project in downtown Milwaukee.
Northwestern Mutual is building a $450 million, 32-story, 1.1 million-square-foot office building on its headquarters campus. Midwest Stairs & Iron was awarded the contract to install all of the stairs in the project, a total of 3,200 stairs in 18 stairways.
The Northwestern Mutual project, plus the addition of a new product, is prompting Midwest Stairs & Iron to expand its business, said president and owner Howard Wurgler.
The company plans to purchase a 22,800-square-foot building at 8111 W. Bradley Road for the expansion. In addition the company, which currently has about 35 employees, plans to hire another 15 to 20 employees to accommodate its growth.
Midwest Stairs & Iron is headquarters in a 21,000-square-foot facility at 679 S. 76th St. in Milwaukee. The company has a 6,000-square-foot location in Sheboygan, which it opened earlier this year but has already outgrown, Wurgler. The Sheboygan operation will be relocated to the Bradley Road building, he said. The company plans to add about 10 to 15 employees in the Bradley Road building and will add another 4 to 5 employees at its main South 76th Street site, he said.
The Milwaukee Economic Development Corp.’s Loan and Finance Committee on Tuesday approved a request from Midwest Stairs & Iron for a $391,500 loan to help it purchase and remodel the Bradley Road building. The cost to purchase the building is estimated at $900,000 and the remodeling cost is estimated at $35,000.
Midwest Stairs & Iron also installed all of the stairs in the recently completed Potawatomi Hotel project in Milwaukee.
