Milwaukee Tool plans office rehab that would employ 2,000 in downtown Milwaukee

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Milwaukee Tool is planning to redevelop an office building in downtown Milwaukee to provide space for about 2,000 employees.

The Brookfield-based manufacturer would overhaul an office building at 501 W. Michigan St., according to a public notice filed by the city of Milwaukee’s Redevelopment Authority this week.

The city would grant the company as much as $12.1 million in tax incentives if it employs at least 1,210 people at the site. The company could receive another $7.9 million if Milwaukee Tool employs another 790 workers at the downtown office.

“Milwaukee Tool is part of this city’s history, and it’s certainly part of our future,” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said in a statement.  “I enthusiastically welcome Milwaukee Tool, and I am delighted Milwaukee is their first choice as they look to expand their corporate operations within the region.”

The city’s Redevelopment Authority plans to meet on April 15 to review a Tax Increment Financing district that would need to be established to provide the cash grants to the company. That’s the first step in gaining city approval for the project.

Milwaukee Tool declined to answer specific questions about the redevelopment project, including when it hoped to begin work and occupy the space.

“As we continue to grow our presence here in southeastern Wisconsin, we are looking into additional space to expand our corporate operations,” said Ty Stavinski, Milwaukee Tool chief financial officer, in a statement. “A site in downtown Milwaukee is our first choice. At this time, we have no other details to share.”

Milwaukee Developer Scott Laurie bought the five-story building in 2019 and has plans to market the property as a corporate headquarters. The building has been largely vacant since its previous anchor tenant, Assurant Health, closed down in 2016.

The project is the latest in a string of developments for Milwaukee Tool. The company has grown rapidly since 2011, when it employed just 300 workers in southeast Wisconsin.

Starting in 2016, the company has been saying it would invest more than $170 million in capital projects and create about 1,800 jobs in exchange for $46 million in state tax incentives, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

In addition to a $22 million headquarters addition which the company began in 2018, Milwaukee Tool has rolled out several other large projects, specifically a $26 million manufacturing plant in West Bend, a $7.5 million expansion for its subsidiary Imperial Blades in Sun Prairie and a $100 million hand tool manufacturing campus in Menomonee Falls.