Northwestern Mutual wants to expand its “commons space” with a public conservatory, terraces and other streetscaping as it embarks on a $500 million office building overhaul project at its downtown Milwaukee headquarters campus.
The street-level plans are part of the company’s project to transform it’s north office building, which sits at the corner of Cass and Mason Streets, and move about 2,000 workers from it’s campus in Franklin to its downtown campus.
Discussed at a Plan Commission meeting on Monday, the company plans to close off a portion of North Cass Street, which is already closed south of Mason Street, to connect its new north office building to a parking structure.
Overlaying Cass Street, development plans call for an indoor lobby and outdoor plaza. The lobby would be open to the public from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and the plaza would be open 24/7 like other outdoor spaces on Northwestern Mutual’s grounds.
When open, pedestrians could walk through this space and cyclists could dismount and walk their bikes through.
“The important thing here is bringing everyone together, the employees will all be coming through this space as well as the public coming through this space,” said Rodney Nelson with Pickard Chilton, the project’s architect.
Surrounding the plaza will be two terrace spaces with greenery, tables, chairs and other lounging or activity space, renderings show.
Inside the transparent glass structure, which is designed to invite people in, designers said, is a lobby space with seating. Adjacent to the lobby would be a public conservatory, which could be rented out for events, and a retail space, which Northwestern Mutual plans to rent out to a food and beverage establishment.
Although gaining approval from the Plan Commission and being supported by the Department of City Development (DCD), the city’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee is concerned about closing off a public street.
“There’s a lot of things to like about the project,” said Mitchell Henke, the chair of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee. “Our specific ask is to maintain 24/7 outdoor access for pedestrians and bicycles so that bicycles don’t have to dismount.”
The campus is part of a newly established tax incremental district, which will contribute $10 million to public infrastructure projects in the district such as bike and pedestrian infrastructure, according to Dan Casanova, economic development specialist with DCD.
Beth Weirick, CEO of the Downtown Business Improvement District, and DCD said that Milwaukee has not seen the loss in downtown employees that other cities have, partly due to public-private partnerships like this.
“One of the areas where I think we do fight against suburbs when attracting office and attracting employers is their ability to kind of create the kind of space that they’d like to have,” said Lafayette Crump, commissioner of city development. “They’ve got a little more of an open canvas.”
