Greater Milwaukee Committee Moving Downtown
Civic group will leave Walker’s Point’s Global Water Center for 330 Kilbourn by year’s end.
330 Kilbourn. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The Greater Milwaukee Committee is heading back Downtown.
After more than a decade in Walker’s Point at 247 Freshwater (formerly the Global Water Center), the nonprofit civic organization plans to relocate its offices to the 330 Kilbourn complex at the end of the year.
The move comes shortly after the organization named Cristy Garcia-Thomas its permanent president and CEO in August, following eight months of interim leadership.
“We’re excited to welcome our members, partners and friends to our new home at 330 Kilbourn in the new year,” said Garcia-Thomas in a statement.
The GMC is leasing a 2,557-square-foot suite on the seventh floor of the complex’s east tower. A commercial alteration permit lists a renovation cost of $103,000, with in. studio architecture working with the organization on the move.
“As our work has evolved, we are looking forward to being in a new space that supports how we operate and convene today,” Garcia-Thomas said. “We’re grateful for our many years at the Global Water Center, where we watched the building become a great community asset, and we’re excited to join the thriving community of downtown Milwaukee.”
The organization said its new office will offer large meeting rooms and accessible parking, supporting its work bringing members and partners together. The location also places the GMC within a short distance of many of its members.
The move marks another chapter in the organization’s relationship with Downtown.
In 2013, the GMC left its longtime home in the Matthews Building, now part of The Avenue, for the Global Water Center. That move took the organization from Westown to Walker’s Point. Its next move will bring it to East Town.
At 330 Kilbourn, the GMC will join an evolving roster of tenants.
Group RMC purchased the 475,000-square-foot, two-tower office complex in 2021. The Mandel Group and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have moved into the complex in recent years.
Another longtime tenant is preparing to leave. Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown announced in September that it would relocate to 222 E. Erie St. in the Historic Third Ward at the start of 2027. The law firm has operated from the Kilbourn complex since 2000.
Garcia-Thomas took over the GMC in December after former president Joel Brennan stepped away to pursue the Democratic nomination for governor. Her permanent appointment ended the uncertainty over the organization’s leadership and the possibility that Brennan could return after the campaign.
Garcia-Thomas previously held senior leadership roles at Advocate Health and its predecessor organizations, served as president and CEO of the United Performing Arts Fund and worked as a publishing executive at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Founded in 1948, the GMC has more than 200 members drawn from the region’s business, civic, nonprofit, healthcare, education, manufacturing and technology sectors. Its work focuses on education, infrastructure, public safety and fiscal strength.
Upon her permanent appointment, Garcia-Thomas said her initial priorities included listening to members and partners and strengthening relationships inside and outside the organization.
“My goal is to help position Milwaukee not only to respond to change, but to lead it,” she said in August.
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