Investment Advisor Group Leasing Space At BMO Tower

Irgens landed a new tenant for a half-floor space near the top of BMO Tower.

Silvercrest Asset Management Group is leasing 11,194 square feet on the 22nd floor of the 25-story office tower, 790 N. Water St.

“Silvercrest professionals deserve a high-end office environment that recognizes their talent and enhances the culture of our firm,” said Silvercrest CEO Richard Hough in a statement. Our partners enjoy working together in a collaborative and entrepreneurial environment to deliver the best possible advice to our clients. This played an integral part in Silvercrest’s choosing to locate at BMO Tower,”

“We have found a common thread from many of the occupiers at BMO Tower that the combination of aesthetics, stature, views, technology and amenities have provided their ability to attract work force and their experience has exceeded their expectations,” said Irgens vice president Alyssa Geisler.

The publicly-traded company was founded in 2002 and reports more than $28 billion in assets under management. It’s headquartered in New York with offices in Boston, San Diego, Richmond, VA, Charlottesville, VA and Bedminster, NJ. Its current Milwaukee office is on the fourth floor of the five-story building at 825 N. Jefferson St.

Silvercrest entered the Milwaukee market in 2019 after acquiring Milwaukee-based Cortina Asset Management for $44.9 million. Brian Bies and John Potter, founding principals with Cortina, became managing directors at Silvercrest.

Silvercrest is expected to move in on May 1.

The firm will join anchor tenants BMO Harris Bank and Michael Best & Friedrich, as well as Kahler Slater, B.C. Ziegler & Company, Heartland Advisors and Andrus Intellectual Property Law. 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 next year in a 7,500-square-foot retail space along N. Broadway.

The 328-foot-tall tower has a number of amenities, including a shared multi-media conference center, common tenant lounge and terrace on the 12th floor. BMO has a private outdoor terrace on the 11th floor and Michael Best has one on the 25th floor. A tenant fitness center is located underground with private showers and locker rooms. An eight-level parking structure with 653 stalls is included in the building’s base.

The standard floor plate in the building is 25,849 square feet, with nine-foot, six-inch ceilings. Floor-to-ceiling windows and column-free corners are included on every floor.

According to the leasing website, 102,454 square feet of space remains available for lease in the 380,000-square-foot building.

Assessed for $80.5 million, it is one of the 10 most valuable properties in the city.

The 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.

CBRE represented Silvercrest in the lease negotiations, with Adam Leshowitz of the New York City office and John Mazza and Nick Becker of the Milwaukee office working on the deal.

April 2020 Photos