Kohl’s Planning Downtown Store

Downtown Milwaukee could soon be home to a Kohl’s department store.

The Menomonee Falls-based company is rumored to be considering a small-format store in the HUB640 building, which previously housed a two-story Boston Store and its parent company Bon-Ton’s corporate headquarters. The eight-story Boston Store Building was acquired by Chicago-based North Wells Capital in 2017 and fully redeveloped following the department store chain’s 2018 bankruptcy and subsequent liquidation.

Earlier this week, a media advisory was distributed for a Friday press conference to announce a “new major retailer at HUB640.” Sean Ryan was the first to publicly report that Kohl’s was the tenant.

In investor presentations earlier this year, the company disclosed plans to open more than 100 smaller-format stores of approximately 35,000 square feet. Most of its full-size stores are approximately 80,000 square feet and are often co-located with shopping malls.

A downtown department store would be seen as a win for the city following the 2018 loss of Boston Store and Bon-Ton and a 2012 rejection by Kohl’s of a $125 million subsidy package to move its headquarters and 5,000 employees to the Park East  corridor. Westown Association has publicly advocated for landing a major retailer, namely Target, in the former Boston Store space.

Earlier this month, Kohl’s ended acquisition talks with Franchise Group. But the company is still considered a likely acquisition target. Franchise Group was expected to finance a large part of its acquisition by selling the underlying real estate associated with many of the stores.

North Wells planned to strategically redevelop the former Boston Store Building, but that work was expedited when Bon-Ton went from downsizing to liquidation. In 2021, the company completed gutting and rehabbed each of the former Bon-Ton floors. The approximately 232,000 square feet of space on the upper floors, including the former second level of the Boston Store, are now designed to house office tenants, while the 66,125-square-foot first floor is reserved for commercial tenants. New common spaces were developed and a portion of the parking structure was converted to a rooftop deck.

The new owner, working with Founders 3, has successfully attracted North Shore Healthcare, Eight Eleven Group and Abacus Architects to the building. Engberg Anderson Architects and Kelly Construction & Design led the design and construction on the redevelopment.

The building is directly attached to The Avenue, the redeveloped Shops of Grand Avenue Mall. It stretches between W. Wisconsin Ave. and W. Michigan St. along N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. (the former N. 4th St.).

The former Boston Store Building is actually two attached structures. A five-story building, dating back to 1895, is located at the intersection of N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. and W. Wisconsin Ave. An eight-story structure is located to the south, fronting W. Michigan St. and N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. Prior owner WisPark already partnered with the Mandel Group to convert the top of the eight-story building to apartments.

Representatives of Kohl’s and North Wells did not respond to requests for comment.

Much of the $1.9 million tax incremental financing subsidy provided to keep Bon-Ton in Downtown remains in an escrow account.

HUB640 Redevelopment Photos

Aerial Photos

Former Boston Store