The state Department of Administration has issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking developers to purchase the Department of Natural Resource’s 48,900-square-foot building located on a 3.6-acre site at 2300 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Milwaukee, and build a new office building in its place that will be leased to the DNR.
The DNR’s South East Regional Headquarters occupies the building, and has been at that location since the building was constructed in 1983. A portion of the building includes the historic façade of the former Breakers Bank building.
The DNR no longer wants to own the building, said David Helbach, administrator for the Department of Administration’s Division of State Facilities.
"The DNR’s core function is not on maintaining buildings," Helbach said. "They want to focus on their core function."
When constructed in 1983 the state hoped the DNR building would help revitalize the King Drive area. The King Drive corridor has improved and attracted several new businesses in recent years. The state wants to keep the DNR office at the site to continue its impact on the neighborhood, but also wants a larger development on the site, Helbach said.
"The hope is we would be the partner in a much larger development," he said. "A high-density, mixed-use development in the neighborhood would be good for the community, and would increase the value of the land."
All responses to the RFP are due on Nov. 25. A tour of the facility will be held on Nov. 4. For more information on the RFP, contact Vic Villacrez at (608) 261-6796.
