Rite-Hite’s New HQ Gets Glassy

Rite Hite’s new headquarters is quickly transitioning from being a colossus of steel and concrete into a reflective glass edifice.

The warehouse equipment company announced in early 2020 it would relocate from suburban Brown Deer to the Reed Street Yards business park, bringing approximately 300 employees with it.

It is building three structures, anchored by a four-story, 159,308-square-foot office building along the north side of W. Freshwater Way that overlooks the South Menomonee Canal and Harley-Davidson Museum. The signature curved shape of the building’s upper floors is now encased in glass.

A two-story, 108,552-square-foot office building, to be used for research and development, is being constructed on the south side of the street.

A parking structure with four levels and 450 stalls is being constructed immediately west of the R&D building. A glassy skywalk now hangs over the street, connecting the three structures.

Eppstein Uhen Architects is designing the buildings. CD Smith is leading the general contracting. The project was originally expected to be completed in early 2022, but still appears several months from completion.

Rite-Hite designs and manufactures loading dock equipment, industrial doors, safety barriers, industrial fans and other products for warehouse operators. The 57-year-old company has over 2,300 employees across the globe, including four locations in the Milwaukee area.

The new Milwaukee campus will be used for research, design, administration, sales and management, but not manufacturing.

In late 2019 the Common Council approved a $4 million amendment to the tax incremental financing district used to create the business park to fund the relocation of two Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District sewers that cross the Reed Street Yards business park, but don’t directly serve the 15-acre site. The business park was created from a former rail yard and trucking facility. The move was billed as clearing an impediment to development and city officials said it would be required whether the then-rumored Rite Hite relocation occurred or not.

The formerly water-focused business park only attracted a single office tenant prior to Rite-Hite’s announcement.

Zurn, then a subsidiary of Rexnord, relocated from Pennsylvania to a three-story office building in the business park. The Yards apartment building was completed in 2020 on the district’s eastern edge along S. 2nd St. A substantial amount of other development, including the Global Water Center, has taken place just outside the borders of the business park. A large Milwaukee Bucks mural just outside of the business park will be partially obscured by the new R&D building.

An affiliate of Rite-Hite purchased 9.4 acres of land from General Capital Group for $12 million. The riverwalk segment that borders the property remains open during construction.

The Rite-Hite development is far from the only construction project in the area. To the north, Harley-Davidson is adding a new event venue to its museum campus. To the east, Kelly Construction is wrapping up work on the redevelopment of a pre-Civil War building at 235 S. 2nd St.

Photos

Renderings

Pre-Construction Site Photos