‘White Box’ Buildings Planned for 124th and Brown Deer

An undeveloped site at the northwest corner of the city of Milwaukee could soon house two logistics-focused industrial buildings.

Houston-based Transwestern Development Company (TDC) is pursuing the construction of two speculative industrial buildings at 12100 W. Brown Deer Rd. The 33.6-acre property is just east of N. 124th St. (N. Boundary Rd.), the border between Milwaukee and Menomonee Falls.

The company would develop a long, 357,753-square-foot building well suited for use as a distribution facility. A smaller, 61,906-square-foot building would be constructed to its west. Each building would be approximately 40 feet tall.

Speculative industrial buildings, designed to satisfy a surge in demand for warehouse or light industrial space, are often built in suburban locations near freeways. And while TDC’s proposal is not slated for a true suburb, it is in a suburban-style location and approximately 1.5-miles from two freeway (Interstate 41) on-off ramps.

The development is described as a “white box facility” in a permit request filed with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Despite the fact that the development would be located between a Coca-Cola bottling plant facility and the Orchard Ridge landfill, the site is technically a wetland for which Transwestern must implement a remediation strategy. A large pond would be created just north of the smaller of the two buildings.

Asphalt roadways, loading docks and surface parking lots would ring the buildings. Access drives would be included on W. Brown Deer. Rd. and N. 12th St.

According to an agreement filed with the DNR, TDC would pay Marvin J. Herb $2.6 million for the property. Herb, according to city assessment records, acquired the property for $335,500 in 1991 to develop the adjacent Coca-Cola plant. The remaining vacant lot is assessed for $838,800. A former bottling plant owner, Herb is a billionaire whom Forbes once ranked as one of the 400 richest Americans.

A permit request to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources indicates that Transwestern hopes to begin construction on Oct. 1 and complete construction in September 2023.

A commercial new construction permit was submitted to the city in July. The request is still pending. The property is already zoned “Industrial-Light.”

A representative of Transwestern did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. Permit requests to the DNS and city were first filed earlier this year, with several updates filed in August.

Building permit requests indicate Architects Plus Design Studio is designing the two buildings.

At least two other spec industrial buildings are under development in the city. Westminster Capital is pursuing the development of a 180,469-square-foot building in the Menomonee Valley. Luther Group is developing a 90,000-square-foot building at 11601-11745 W. Bradley Rd.

A 2019 speculative building at 12255 W. Carmen Ave. successfully attracted Materion Corp. to lease the entire 150,000-square-foot building.

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