Heartland Advisors Moving to BMO Tower

BMO Tower construction progress. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Irgens’ BMO Tower development has landed another tenant as the building continues to rise.

Heartland Advisors, a Milwaukee-based investment firm, will move across the street into the new, 25-story tower at 790 N. Water St. The firm, founded in 1984, has been located across the street on the 5th floor of 789 N. Water St. for nearly two decades.

Heartland is a value-focused investment management firm that offers four mutual funds and four actively-managed account investment strategies.

789 N. Water St. Office Building. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

“Heartland’s attraction to value isn’t limited solely to investing. We also see value in being part of the fabric of a vibrant business community and believe our move to the BMO Tower is an exciting opportunity to continue our nearly four-decade commitment to Milwaukee,” said Will Nasgovitz, Chief Executive Officer of Heartland Advisors, in a statement.

Heartland joins anchor tenants BMO Harris Bank and Michael Best & Friedrich. BMO Harris Bank, which acquired M&I Bank in 2011, will occupy 123,000 square feet in the tower, spread over floors 11 through 15 as part of a long-term lease with Irgens. Law firm Michael Best & Friedrich will lease 59,000 square feet of space spread across two-and-a-half floors at the top of the tower.

Heartland will lease 10,873 square feet of space on the 12th floor. While being at the top of a tower is often perceived as a status symbol, Heartland will get a unique benefit in the form of a substantial, east-facing terrace adjacent to its office space. BMO will have a private terrace on the 11th floor and Michael Best will have a 25th-floor terrace. No additional terraces are planned for the building.

The tower is scheduled to be completed in December 2019. Design work is being led by Kahler Slater. J.H. Findorff & Son is leading the building’s construction.

The new building will include a flagship, two-story bank branch at the southeast corner of the intersection of N. Water St. and E. Wells St. A large commercial space is planned for the east side of the building along N. Broadway.

Alyssa Geisler of CBRE represented Heartland. Mike Wanezek of Colliers International-Wisconsin represented Irgens. Approximately 160,000 square feet of office space remains available for lease.

The tower is being built on the site of BMO’s former parking garage. Irgens won a competitive bidding process for BMO’s new office space by creating a proposal that includes buying and redeveloping the company’s existing tower and leasing the bank space in a new office tower constructed on the site of the former 417-stall garage.

Redevelopment of the existing tower won’t start until 2020 at the earliest. Developer Mark Irgens has suggested a mix of uses could be included in the overhauled tower, including “workforce housing,” a hotel or office space. He recently tweeted a rendering that included the building redeveloped in part as a hotel, with an homage to the site’s prior occupant – the St. Charles Hotel.

The snowy polar weather — brr! — didn’t shut down construction on the site Tuesday morning.

November Construction Photos

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Renderings

Plans

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