More development is coming to downtown Milwaukee. A Brookfield real estate firm announced plans today to move its headquarters to the Park East Corridor.
The $30 million dollar expansion project is set to break ground in just a couple months while bringing hundreds of jobs to the area.
Founder Jon Hammes says the company plans to build a 360 stall parking deck for a five-story commercial office.
“We've been looking at sites now for almost 3 years and these things just don't happen,” he said. “It takes a lot of teamwork.”
It’s been a long time coming for the Knapp and Water intersection that has three empty lots.
“We pretty much tore down a major freeway and all we had for it was surface parking and gravel and weeds for a fairly long time,” said alderman Nik Kovac.
The project is expected to provide around 450 construction jobs. Once the first phase of the project is built 80 Hammes Co. employees will fill two floors of the stone and masonry building. Hammes says the other three floors will be leased to other businesses including opportunities for retail stores.
“It's great having more people, more parking is always welcomed in downtown Milwaukee,” said A.J. Bombers restaurant and bar General Manager Luc Benavides. “That means lunches are going to be even more busy than they already are.”
The first phase including the parking deck and the office building is expected to be complete in early 2018. The second phase of the project is expected to break ground in three years. That expansion includes another five to eight story building.
