The first tenants have moved into the
ThriveOn King development, bringing hundreds of employees to Milwaukee's Bronzeville district and marking a significant milestone for the massive redevelopment project that's been years in the making.
A redevelopment of the iconic former Gimbels-Schuster’s store at 2153 N. Martin Luther King Drive, the ThriveOn collaboration is a partnership of the
Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), along with the
Greater Milwaukee Foundation (GMF) and Milwaukee real estate developer
Royal Capital Group.
Last week, MCW moved about 300 employees to its portion of the 470,000-square-foot redevelopment, and GMF moved about 70 employees — and its headquarters — to the building.
A $120 million investment, the ThriveOn collaboration began as a shared effort by GMF, MCW and Royal Capital to improve the surrounding area's social determinants of health – things like social cohesion, access to healthy food, quality affordable housing, economic opportunity, and early childhood education.
"(The space) connects people across the spectrum: young folks, families, professionals, people who have been committed to this area. The building is full of strategic pieces that fit into that," said
Greg Wesley, one of the co-chairs of the ThriveOn Collaboration, and the senior vice president of strategic alliances and business development for MCW. Wesley is also the incoming president and CEO of GMF.
Meanwhile, renovations are wrapping up on the building's first floor, which will include a community and tenant space with food service;
JobsWork MKE, which helps people gain professional skills and find employment opportunities;
Malaika Early Learning Center and
Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin.
By January,
90 units of mixed-income housing for families, seniors and students are scheduled to open as well.
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Following several rounds of discussions with neighbors, the team developed a list of "pillars" that they wanted to focus on. From there, the team selected companies or organizations they thought would enhance their mission, but some of the building's tenants approached them first, Wesley said.
Although it’s been more than 50 years since the space has been used by department stores, elements from the building's more than 100 year history are still around: Things like revolving doors, reclaimed woods and refurbished floors, among others, are found throughout.
"In a lot of communities like this, older buildings are not repurposed to provide a rebirth," Wesley said. "We're doing that through this collaboration, while also meeting need economically."
About 52,000 square feet on the building's second and third floors will be occupied by MCW, which is basing 10 of its initiatives and centers out of the building, including the Center for AIDS Intervention Research, Maternal Fetal Health Center of Excellence and the Office of Community Engagement, among others.
"We looked at the health indicators of this community to see where there might be problems and a need," Wesley said. "We know that diabetes, cardiovascular, HIV issues are a significant concern, for instance."
On the building's fourth floor, GMF is moving into about 28,000 square feet of space. That's double the size of the organization's previous headquarters in Schlitz Park.
"We moved from an office park, closer to the community, so here's our opportunity to grow in our community itself and use our interaction to inform how we do our work," said
Ken Robertson, executive vice president, chief operating officer & chief financial officer at GMF
In addition to boosting the various organizations' presence in the Bronzeville community, the development team hoped to catalyze future development in the King Drive area.
"Standing at this corner of the building, you can really see all the construction happening in the neighborhood and how catalytic this project has been," Robertson said, looking out GMF's windows at King Drive and Garfield Avenue. "That's what this at ThriveOn was about: having a vision and motivating others to make an investment in a historically disinvested neighborhood."
