Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company will announce Thursday that it plans to build a $300 million, 840,000-square-foot office tower, more than 30 stories tall, at its downtown Milwaukee headquarters campus, according to sources.
The company will seek $48 million in tax incremental financing (TIF) from the city for the project, sources said.
The new building will replace the East Building on the Northwestern Mutual downtown campus. Last fall, the company announced that it plans to tear down the 451,964-square-foot, 16-story, 34-year-old East Building. The company said that building needs extensive and costly maintenance and cannot serve its long-term needs.
For more than a year the company considered how to replace the East Building. The company said it was considering three options: building a new building at its downtown campus, building a new building at its Franklin campus or building new facilities at both campuses. The company’s decision to build the new, larger building downtown is a major boost for the city’s central business district.
BizTimes first reported that sources indicated the company was leaning toward the option of building a new office tower downtown.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, business, community and civic leaders will join Northwestern Mutual chairman and chief executive officer John Schlifske to make the announcement about the project on Thursday.
The $48 million TIF package for the project is subject to approval of the Milwaukee Common Council.
