BMO Tower Lands Another Tenant

BMO Tower‘s facade is made of glass, but it’s functioning like a magnet.

Financial firm Fiduciary Management, Inc. filed plans with the city to build out an office on the 21st floor of the building, 790 N. Water St. It follows a permit request last week from real estate broker CBRE to open an office in the building.

Fiduciary would be moving two blocks north, from its current home on the 22nd floor of the 100 East office tower. That 35-story building is currently in receivership, in part due to the relocation of Michael Best & Friedrich from the top six floors of 100 East to the top three floors of BMO Tower.

Fiduciary, according to its website, had $13.5 billion in assets under management as of the end of 2022. It operates four mutual funds in addition to its money management offerings. Ted Kellner founded the company in 1980, but stepped down as CEO in 2010. The current president and CEO is John Brandser. Patrick English is the executive chairman, past CEO and co-chief investment officer. Jonathan Bloom is the other co-chief investment officer.

Architecture firm Kahler Slater, which made its own move to BMO Tower from another downtown building, is leading the design of Fiduciary’s new space, according to a commercial alteration permit request.

In addition to Michael Best, Kahler and CBRE, Fiduciary would join BMO Harris Bank, Silvercrest Asset Management Group, B.C. Ziegler & Company, Heartland Advisors and Andrus Intellectual Property Law in the 25-story office tower. Fiddleheads Coffee Roasters operates a cafe along N. Water St. on the first floor, next to BMO’s flagship bank branch at N. Water St. and E. Wells St. A fertility clinic, Kindbody, is expected to open this year in a 7,500-square-foot retail space along N. Broadway.

Developed by Irgens, the 328-foot-tall building opened in phases starting in fall 2020. Irgens, according to its website, represents itself on leasing in the tower. Assessed for $80.5 million, it is one of the 10 most valuable properties in the city.

The latest permit request does not include details on the size of the office. The building’s leasing website shows half of the 25,849-square-foot floor plate available for lease.

Representatives of neither Fiduciary nor Irgens responded to a request for comment. CBRE, which didn’t comment on its permit request last week, confirmed its intended relocation Monday.

BMO Tower was developed on the site of a multi-level parking structure originally built by M&I Bank in the 1960s. The bank was acquired by BMO in 2010. The former M&I building to the south, now known as 770 North, could house up to 231 apartments, but Irgens has had no public activity on the proposal in the past year.

April 2020 BMO Tower Photos