Northwestern Mutual Wins Key Vote To Close Cass Street

Northwestern Mutual North Building’s new lobby atop N. Cass Street. Rendering by Pickard Chilton.

Northwestern Mutual‘s $500 million proposal to relocate its suburban employees to Downtown and dramatically overhaul its aging, 18-story North Building comes with a catch: the city must give up one block of N. Cass Street between E. Wells Street and E. Mason Street.

The company intends to build a glassy structure atop the street, linking its revamped tower with a rehabilitated parking structure. A plaza would be constructed along E. Mason Street, facing its 32-story Tower and Commons.

The Department of City Development (DCD) and Mayor Cavalier Johnson endorsed the request, and a $30 million subsidy agreement, when the company unveiled the deal to great fanfare in February. The Common Council concurred, unanimously adopting the agreement in March.

DCD Commissioner Lafayette Crump said the company’s investment, in an era of remote work, reinforced that Downtown was the premiere job center in the Milwaukee area and a leader in the Midwest.

“It helps send the message that those companies don’t need to locate in the suburbs to get the kind of campus, the kind of properties they want,” said Crump to the Public Works Committee on Wednesday.

But not everyone loves the street closure part of the proposal, in part because the insurance company will only let the public cross through the resulting building between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. Bikes will be allowed during that time, but only if someone dismounts and navigates through a series of doors.

The city’s citizen-led Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) formally objected to the proposal. “The City should not give up this valuable right of way without ensuring that 24/7 public and outdoor access for pedestrians and bicyclists is maintained,” it wrote in a letter.

PBAC cited the new downtown plan, which calls for discouraging street vacations. It also cited the city’s 2019 decision to vacate streets near the Master Lock campus, only for the company to announce it was shuttering the plant in 2023 and the city having no recourse to get its streets back.

But Crump said the new plan says “discourage, not prohibit” and that the impact to the grid would be minimal because N. Cass Street terminates at E. Mason St. “Does it significantly alter any trips for pedestrians or cyclists? It does not because the block is closed to the south,” said the commissioner.

Crump and DCD economic development specialist Dan Casanova said revenue from the project would pay for pedestrian and bike amenities on nearby streets, including a new protected bicycle lane on E. Kilbourn Avenue, rebuilding oversized intersections, adding a sidewalk along N. Lincoln Memorial Drive and reconstructing the Oak Leaf Trail. A separate project will build north-south protected lanes on N. Van Buren Street, the west side of the campus.

Northwestern Mutual vice president Steve Radke said the company would be upgrading E. Mason Street into an “inspiring” gateway to the lakefront and Oak Leaf Trail.

But area Alderman Robert Bauman pushed back.

“The very narrow question is: could you not achieve all of this and also allow an open-air, even covered passage down Cass Street?” he asked.

He suggested the glass lobby, which will double as a 10,000-square-foot event space, could be retracted at its western side where it abuts the parking structure.

“There is a strong connection there that we believe is very important,” said Pickard Chilton senior associate John Lanczycki, whose firm is designing the building.

“But you’re connecting to a parking lot,” said Bauman, who otherwise effusively praised the design. “I am convinced that your firm has the capability of designing an open-air passage that is just as spectacular, beautiful and functional as that.”

Northwestern Mutual vice president Rebecca Villegas, who is leading the project, said the company needs the space to host events. “We are actually at capacity for the number of the events we can host,” she told the committee of the Commons space across the street.

A 14,000-square-foot plaza would be located south of the connector space, which Radke and Villegas said would be another public space. A food-and-beverage tenant, possibly similar to Starbucks in the Commons, could occupy a space in the revamped North Building and utilize the plaza.

“Just so we’re clear, this is private property the public is being allowed to pass through 12 hours a day, five day a week,” said Bauman.

There are two parts of the deal PBAC was successful in getting DCD to modify. A clawback provision was added that allows the city to take back the right of way if the campus becomes vacant.

It also requires NM and the city to work on signage to make sure the passageway is clearly marked and labeled as publicly accessible. “We will work out the details with them,” said Crump.

Bauman, citing the lack of in-person opposition from PBAC members or other members of the public, pivoted to supporting the deal. He suggested “alternatives could be developed” by the company to nix the entire deal.

Ald. Jonathan Brostoff suggested the deal could have been structured differently and warned that the decision would be precedent-setting. Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II confirmed with Bauman that the Fiserv Forum plaza was still owned by the city, but withdrew any concerns citing the lack of in-person citizen opposition.

But PBAC vice chair Mitchell Henke told Urban Milwaukee after the meeting he still has concerns about the agreement because it’s not 24/7 access. “I am glad to see the improvements of including reversion rights and requiring the limited access going forward, though it’s subject to some exclusions like events, safety, etc,” he said.

The company representatives said Northwestern Mutual aims to be a good Milwaukee citizen and that its efforts, which will create a second glassy tower to match its first, are representative of that. Radke noted that many of the events are for nonprofit groups, while Villegas touted the company’s commitment to bicycling. “We will be having an even bigger bike room for employees going forward,” she said.

Project consultant, former city planning manager and UW-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning dean emeritus Robert Greenstreet said it wasn’t a critical street to worry about vacating and the project would enhance the city’s connection to the lakefront.

Milwaukee Downtown CEO Beth Weirick, real estate broker Bruce Westling and restaurateur Mike Buckley all spoke in favor of the deal. Buckley, who owns and operates Buckley’s at E. Wells St. and N. Cass St., said driver behavior at his intersection is an “accident waiting to happen” and he expected that to improve with it becoming a three-way intersection.

The committee unanimously endorsed the agreement. Sending it to the full council for a vote on July 11.

For additional information on the complicated Northwestern Mutual subsidy agreement, see our earlier coverage.

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Related Legislation: File 230046