Aurora Health Care Moving To BMO Tower
Health care giant will consolidate three offices into one downtown headquarters.
BMO Tower in downtown Milwaukee. Photo taken April 19, 2020 by Jeramey Jannene. All Rights Reserved.
Aurora Health Care is moving its administrative offices to BMO Tower, consolidating three existing office locations into a smaller footprint.
The health care provider, part of the national Advocate Health system, announced Wednesday that it plans to make the move next summer.
The move will bring employees from three leased office locations into the 25-story tower at 790 N. Water St. Aurora will vacate its administrative offices at 750 W. Virginia St. and the neighboring Trade Center at 647 W. Virginia St., both in The Tannery Complex in Walker’s Point, and it will shutter an office at 7800 N. 113th St. in the Park Place business park on the city’s Far Northwest Side.
“The move reflects the organization’s focus on stewarding resources, so it can continue to invest where it matters most: in patients, teammates and Wisconsin communities,” said the organization in a press release.
The move to a Class A, glassy office building in Downtown is a dramatic change for the health care organization, which has already reinvented itself several times in recent years.
The organization also emphasized that the relocation would not diminish its local presence. “Wisconsin Division leadership, teams and decision-making will remain firmly anchored in the state, with locally based leaders and teammates who live and work in the communities they serve,” said the release.
Aurora did not immediately respond to a request for information about how much space it would lease in BMO Tower.
The health care provider said the consolidation is intended to reduce its real estate footprint and operating costs while providing a more collaborative workplace.
Aurora said the new location would offer flexible workspace and convenient access to public transportation and downtown amenities.
The 25-story, 380,000-square-foot BMO Tower is anchored by BMO and law firm Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. Other tenants include Baker Tilly, Silvercrest Asset Management Group, Andrus Intellectual Property Law, CBRE, Hinshaw & Culbertson, building architect Kahler Slater, Oarsman Capital and the Kelben Foundation Inc. The building, 790 N. Water St., was developed by Irgens and opened in 2020.
The two Virginia Street properties are Cream City brick buildings. Chicago-based R2 Companies owns the multi-tenant Trade Center, while an affiliate of LCM Funds owns the 72,000-square-foot building at 750 W. Virginia St. The 80,000-square-foot Park Place building is owned by a Beverly Hills-based entity. According to permit records and signage, Aurora is the only tenant in the Park Place and LCM Funds-owned buildings. Based on previously reported leases in BMO Tower, Aurora’s move represents a significant downsizing.
A Growing Health Care Giant
Aurora’s office consolidation comes after a series of mergers transformed the once-independent Wisconsin health care system into part of one of the country’s largest nonprofit health care organizations.
Aurora Health Care, which traces its origins to the 1984 combination of St. Luke’s Medical Center and Good Samaritan Medical Center, merged with Illinois-based Advocate Health Care in April 2018 to create Advocate Aurora Health.
Four years later, Advocate Aurora announced plans to combine with North Carolina-based Atrium Health. The transaction was completed in 2022, creating Advocate Health.
The new organization established its headquarters in Charlotte while pledging to maintain a significant presence in Milwaukee and Chicago. Aurora Health Care continues to operate under its existing brand in Wisconsin.
Advocate Health now operates across six states and describes itself as the country’s third-largest nonprofit integrated health system. Its current leadership reports approximately 167,000 employees and 69 hospitals.
A Smaller Footprint Following Remote Work Shift
The consolidation follows a major shift in Aurora’s approach to office work that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2021, the then-Advocate Aurora Health announced that approximately 12,000 non-clinical positions across Wisconsin and Illinois would permanently transition to a remote-first work arrangement.
The initiative, called WorkForward, eliminated dedicated offices and cubicles for affected employees, including those in finance, accounting, public affairs, government relations and administration.
Employees could work from home or other locations, returning to offices periodically for meetings and collaborative work.
At the time, Chief Human Resources Officer Kevin Brady said the organization would regularly reevaluate its real estate needs and reconfigure remaining offices to provide collaborative workspaces. The health care system had already vacated several offices in Wisconsin and Illinois.
“These decisions are not an indication of downsizing teams, but rather of our ability to reorganize to create a more engaging, collaborative and energizing work environment while offering team members the flexibility they value,” Brady said at the time.
The latest consolidation continues that real estate strategy, although Aurora has not disclosed how much space it is giving up or how many employees will regularly use the BMO Tower offices.
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