St. Paul, Minn.-based The Travelers Companies Inc., one of the largest property and casualty insurance companies in the nation, is looking for 90,000 square feet of office space in the Brookfield area, according to a Milwaukee area commercial real estate source.
The Travelers Companies currently occupies space on the third floor of the Crossroads Corporate Center II building at 20800 Swenson Drive in the Town of Brookfield and in the office building at 445 S. Moorland Road in Brookfield.
The Crossroads Corporate Center building is owned by Malvern, Pa.-based Liberty Propeerty Trust, a real estate investment trust (REIT). Travelers occupies about 20,000 square feet of space in the Crossroads building and has about two years left on its lease there, said Neal Driscoll, the director of leasing and development for Liberty Property Trust’s Milwaukee area office.
"I don’t know what they are planning at this point in time," Driscoll said.
The 445 S. Moorland Road building is owned by Chicago-based Zeller Realty Corp., according to Waukesha County records. A representative for the company did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Travelers wants to remain in the Brookfield area, according to the source. "My understanding is they would not," move to downtown Milwaukee, he said.
A spokesperson for Travelers did not return a call seeking comment.
Tim Brunow of NAI MLG Commercial is representing The Travelers Cos. in its search for a new location, according to the source. A spokesman for MLG, speaking on Brunow’s behalf, declined to comment for this story.
In December, Brunow was one of the speakers at the annual office and industrial market update hosted by the Wisconsin chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP). The office space vacancy rate in Waukesha County is at 14.07 percent, Brunow said that day. There are ample amounts of available spaces in the county for small office space users, but there are fewer options available for large office space users. There are only three blocks of vacant office space of more than 40,000 square feet in the county, he said.
That could make it difficult for The Travelers Cos. to find 90,000 square feet of available, contiguous office space in the Brookfield area. The firm may need to find a developer to build a new office building.
One possibility is Brookfield-based VK Development Corp., which recently unveiled plans to develop the 60-acre Ruby family farm property, located southwest of Bluemound Road and Calhoun Road, with 528,000 square feet of office space, 78,000 square feet of retail space, a health club, condos, an assisted living center and a hotel.
