Brookfield-based financial services company Fiserv is again considering options to relocate its corporate headquarters.

In 2017 the Fortune 500 company confirmed it was considering multiple sites in Milwaukee, but never moved. Come 2019 it acquired First Data Corporation for $22 billion and set about restructuring or closing several dozen of its offices spread across the country. It now reports approximately 44,000 employees, with major offices in Brookfield, suburban New Jersey, Georgia, Nebraska, Florida and an executive office in New York City.

Andrew Weiland broke the news Friday afternoon that the company is looking at new Milwaukee area locations for its headquarters. It retained CBRE to lead the search.

CEO Frank Bisignano, the former CEO and chairman of First Data, is based in New York, but approximately 900 employees are in Brookfield. Bisignano previously said the headquarters would remain in Wisconsin.

“They’re committed to a headquarters concept here (in the Milwaukee area),” said CBRE executive vice president Bill Bonifas to Weiland. “This is a world-class organization. They want a world-class solution. It has to be a 10 out of 10.” Bonifas, senior vice president Matthew Cariello and senior transaction manager Kenzie Kiefer are working on the deal.

The company is looking for more than 100,000 square feet of office space. It’s a significant amount of space, but not enough to fill a new office tower on its own.

Fiserv previously considered a site in the Deer District, a downtown location that would place the company next to Fiserv Forum, the arena for which it holds the naming rights. It also considered another Brookfield location, the UW-Milwaukee campus area in Wauwatosa, Schlitz Park and Reed Street Yards. The latter site is now off the market as Rite-Hite Holding Corporation is moving its headquarters there.

But new options have emerged. Weiland reported that the company is “seriously considering” the HUB640 building. The former Boston Store Building is located along the resurgent W. Wisconsin Ave. and a Kohl’s store was announced Friday for its first floor. The middle four floors of the building include mostly-vacant office space and a handful of smaller tenants. Apartments are on the top three floors. Weiland reported that the Deer District, Historic Third Ward and Walker’s Point are also in play.

“We don’t have a solution,” Bonifas told Weiland. But he did say the company likes some options more than others.

As part of a master plan for development surrounding Fiserv Forum, the Bucks are considering an office building along W. McKinley Ave. between N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. and N. 5th St. The building would share the block with the nine-story The Trade hotel. A parking garage is planned for the space between the two buildings.

Should Bisignano want to commute by helicopter to a Deer District office his pilot wouldn’t have any trouble finding the place. The roof of the adjacent arena says “fiserv.forum” and is lit up at night.

Deer District 2019 Conceptual Renderings

Weekly Recap

Work Underway on East Side Affordable Apartments

An underutilized site along the Milwaukee River will soon house an affordable apartment building.

Without great fanfare, construction work started earlier this year on EIGHTEEN87 on Water. The six-story, 79-unit apartment building is replacing a one-story, industrial building at 1887 N. Water St., just west of N. Humboldt Ave. Sixty of the units will be set aside at below-market rates for those making no more than 60% of the county median income. Sixteen of the affordable units will be reserved for those with disabilities.

Developer Brandon Rule of Rule Enterprises is co-developing the project with Madison-based nonprofit Movin’ Out. Continuum Architects + Planners is leading the design. Emem Group is serving as the owner’s representative. Catalyst Construction is serving as the general contractor.

Fifty-three indoor parking spaces will be included in the base of the building.

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Kohl’s Downtown Store Is Test of Smaller Format

Come fall 2023, you’ll be able to spend your Kohl’s cash in downtown Milwaukee.

The Menomonee Falls-based retailer is opening a small format, 40,000-square-foot store in the former Boston Store space on the corner of W. Wisconsin Ave. and N. Vel R. Phillips Ave.

“It will have everything our associates and customers love about Kohl’s,” said CEO Michelle Gass at a press conference Friday morning in the future store space. That includes a Sephora cosmetics shop, an Amazon returns counter and a mix of products based on customer buying patterns.

“As mayor of Milwaukee, I am excited to welcome the iconic brand to downtown Milwaukee,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “Kohl’s will have a presence on the main street in the state of Wisconsin.”

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UW Credit Union Will Anchor East Side Building

The developers behind a proposed East Side apartment building purchased the final piece of the development site and confirmed that UW Credit Union will be the anchor commercial tenant.

The 56-unit building, planned for the 1500 block of E. North Ave., is being billed as car-lite urban living. The strategy will reduce the development cost, making the project feasible, and in the long run is expected to reduce rents for residents.

Only eight parking spaces are included in the building and another 12 are located outside along a rear alley. Residents could also take advantage of time-shared spaces at nearby properties. The developers plan to offer two rentable Teslas for errands or other hourly uses and emphasize the potential of walking, biking, Bublr Bikes and the nearby Milwaukee County Transit System bus routes. The model, with the exception of the Teslas, is similar to that of many 100-year-old apartment buildings built to the east of the proposed building.

“Urban housing should be cost-effective and convenient,” said co-developer Shar Borg in a statement announcing the site acquisition. “While we have other amenities in the building, including an incredible rooftop terrace, we think that residents will appreciate having so many low-cost ways of getting around town without having the expense of a personal car and all the costs that come with it.”

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The Backyard Bar Creating New Backyard

The Backyard tavern in Bay View will soon have an entirely new backyard. And for the first time, it will actually be in the back.

In May, a restauranteur requested a zoning variance from the city to build a multi-building restaurant complex on the lot at 2159-2161 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. The news seemingly put an end to The Backyard actually having a “backyard.” The 60-foot-wide lot immediately south of the bar has spent the past decade as its patio.

But as it turns out the southside bar, at 2155 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., won’t need a new name. Instead, owner Sam Leaf is demolishing a rear carriage house. The Backyard will get an actual backyard even as it loses its sideyard.

A crew from Brew City Environmental & Restoration Services was on site Thursday wrecking the duplex. A permit lists the estimated cost of the job at $14,500.

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Design Board Okays Third Ward Project

The third time’s the charm for a proposed apartment complex in the Historic Third Ward.

Kaeding Development Group secured conditional approval of its proposed 258-unit building Wednesday from the Historic Third Ward Architectural Board. But Kaeding, and project architect Ramlow/Stein Architecture + Interiors, will still need to present a series of final revisions.

The six-story, $80 million complex would fill a largely-vacant site at the southeast corner of the neighborhood. It would run from the Italian Community Center parking lot south to E. Summerfest Pl. along N. Harbor Dr.

The earliest iteration had the building lobby at the southeast corner facing the American Family Insurance Amphitheater with a suburban-style porte cochere for vehicles.

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Historic Commission Okays 55-Unit East Side Apartment Building

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and developer Michael DeMichele secured their first public approval to replace a parish hall and build a 55-unit apartment building.

After more than an hour of discussion, the Historic Preservation Commission unanimously approved the demolition of the existing parish hall and the historically-inspired design of the new four-story apartment building, and granted conceptual approval of a new, smaller parish hall.

Representatives of the 111-year-old historic church, 2604-2644 N. Hackett Ave., say the proposal would replace a failing addition with an accessible building and create a sustainable future for the church.

The apartment proposal still needs a zoning change to move forward, while the final design of the new parish hall must be further reviewed by the historic commission.

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Court Says UWM Can Demolish Columbia Hospital

The Historic Preservation Commission‘s attempt to prevent UW-Milwaukee from demolishing the former Columbia Hospital suffered a major legal setback.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Kevin Martens ruled that the city’s requirement is a local permitting matter from which the state is exempt.

The city must now decide whether to appeal the ruling, but an appeals court ruling against the city carries the risk of invalidating the application of all local historic preservation ordinances against state-owned properties.

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Crowley Approves $19 Million For Affordable Housing

The funding comes from the county’s $183.7 million allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The county’s ARPA task force, charged with reviewing and recommending proposals for spending the unprecedented pool of federal funds, recommended the spending in May. It includes $15 million for gap financing of affordable housing developments and $3 million for the renovation of tax foreclosed homes.

The county executive signed the spending package at a press conference outside of a tax foreclosed home in Wauwatosa. James Mathy, director of the county’s Housing Division, explained at an ARPA task force meeting that the county won’t exclude projects in the city of Milwaukee, but is trying to leverage these funds for suburban projects, to give those eligible for affordable housing more options for where to live. Also, he noted, the city received its own ARPA allocation and it’s using some of it on affordable housing projects.

Compared to the city, there is little affordable housing in the county’s suburbs. Historically, the suburbs have been resistant to affordable housing projects and this, combined with the history of housing discrimination based on race, has had a disproportionate impact on Black county residents. “The foundation of housing is one of the main social determinants of health, and there still remains a large gap as relates to homeownership for African-Americans throughout Milwaukee,” Crowley noted. 

“There’s often times, unfortunately, some opposition to these projects that we have to overcome,” Mathy said, speaking to the county board’s Finance Committee in June.

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