Wauwatosa-based real estate development and investment firm Wangard Partners has acquired the former Kohl's Innovation Center office building in Menomonee Falls, with plans to reposition it for modern industrial manufacturing.
The 300,000-square-foot building at W165 N5830 Ridgewood Drive was built in 1996 as a light manufacturing facility, but converted to office space in 2015 for Kohl's Innovation Center, according to a Monday announcement from Wangard. The building is located across the street from Kohl's primary corporate headquarters building.
Under its new ownership, the W165 N5830 Ridgewood Drive building will return to its industrial roots to meet escalating demand for quality manufacturing space in southeastern Wisconsin, Wangard said in the announcement.
"This acquisition allows us to create a modern, flexible manufacturing space in a prime location, meeting a significant growing demand for industrial manufacturing in southeastern Wisconsin," said Stewart Wangard, executive chairman. "By repurposing the former Kohl's Innovation Center, we're not just revitalizing a building—we're reinvesting in the community, creating jobs, and strengthening the region's economic foundation."
A sale price of the building was not immediately available. The property had a 2024 assessed value of $23.3 million, according to Waukesha County records.
[caption id="attachment_614751" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
The building at W165 N5830 Ridgewood Drive. Image from Wangard Partners[/caption]
Kohl's said in a statement that the building has been vacant since 2021, when the company moved employees working in the building into its corporate headquarters after "evaluating workspace accommodations."
It's not the first Kohl's office property to be converted to industrial use. In 2022, Kohl's sold its Customer Service & Operations Center building — also near its headquarters — to Menomonee Falls-based manufacturer Dynamic Tool Corp., which converted it into manufacturing space. Likewise, Kohl's last year sold an undeveloped parcel it owned to Elm Grove-based Luther Group, which is constructing a speculative industrial building on the site.
The Ridgewood Drive building, to be renamed the Ridgewood Industrial Center, features high clear heights, 100% air conditioning and expansive window lines that offer enhanced natural lighting, which are rare features in today's industrial market, according to Wangard.
Situated on nearly 25 acres within the Silver Spring Corporate Park, Wangard says the building is ideally located to I-41, and offers expansion potential for future tenants. It's being marketed for lease by Milwaukee-based Founders 3.
"The transaction underscores Wangard Partners' continued commitment to adaptive reuse and sustainable development," Wangard said.
Metro Milwaukee's office space vacancy rate was 19.7% for the first quarter of 2025, according to a report from the Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin (CARW), while the region's industrial space vacancy rate was 5.7%, and only 1.3% in Waukesha County.
