Northwestern Mutual is on track to complete its half-billion-dollar transformation of its North Office Building in downtown Milwaukee by early 2027.
Construction crews led by Gilbane Building Co. and CG Schmidt Inc. have begun installing glass on the building’s exterior, which is expected to be fully up by mid-year, before more extensive work begins on the building’s interior.
That’s according to Tracy Lutterman, assistant director of construction management at Northwestern Mutual, who spoke to construction crews Wednesday morning as part of a Women in Construction Week event at the project site.
Lutterman said there are around 300 workers on site daily at this point in the project, about 30 of which are women, which she said is a significant number compared to projects that she has worked on in the past.
“When I started in the industry, I was the only woman in the office and no women on site, so it’s amazing to now share a job with so many,” Lutterman said. “(The project managers) were at Buckley’s (Restaurant and Bar) next door a couple of weeks ago and watching the crews leave the site. Every crew that left there had a woman with them, and it was just really cool for us.”
Renovation work on the building, built in 1990 and located at the corner of Cass and Mason streets, started in 2023, with crews stripping the building to its core and building back on top of it. The project now has more than 100 sub-contractors working on the project, according to Gilbane project manager Adrienne Caron.
- Glass is being installed on Northwestern Mutual’s North Office Building.
- Glass is being installed on Northwestern Mutual’s North Office Building.