Northwestern Mutual’s $500M Office project draws contractors, subs, and vendors

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Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. officials on Tuesday briefed around 180 contractors, subcontractors, vendors and management services about what to expect before shovels hit the ground for the North Office renovation project in downtown Milwaukee.

The briefing was part of Northwestern Mutual’s plan for a $500 million, 600,000-square-foot renovation of the existing office at 818 Mason Street. Gilbane Building Co. and CG Schmidt are the general contractor and construction manager in charge of the project. The renovation is meant to bring around 2,000 employees downtown over five years from the closing Franklin campus.

The project is expected to kick off in the fall of 2023 and be completed in 2027, project officials said.

Having companies such as Gilbane and CG Schmidt on the renovation team was a “good road map to follow,” Rebecca Villegas, the vice president of compliance for Northwestern Mutual, told The Daily Reporter. Both companies worked on the Tower and Commons project, a tower more than 30 stories on the city lakefront.

“We are in daily communication with all our main construction partners, talking about everything from scope, schedule and budget. This is the same team we’ve worked with on the Tower and Commons, so we have a good track record and road map to follow,” Villegas said, noting the company had similar plans for the North Office as it did the previous tower project.

Villegas called the project a “catalyst of construction jobs” and added the company hoped to inspire new construction projects in Milwaukee. The previous tower project exceeded its tax increment financing (TIF) and Northwestern Mutual hoped to do the same with the North Office, she added.

Employee growth, retention and attractions were important measurements for the outcomes of the project, Villegas added.

Having companies that worked on the original tower was “the dream team,” and included specialists involved in the previous project, Alicia Dupies, vice president of Gilbane’s Milwaukee office, said. She added the project also had a 25% small business enterprise (SBE) goal and a 40% Residents Preference Program (RPP) goal through the City of Milwaukee.

“Northwestern Mutual is invested in some of the city’s most challenged and distressed neighborhoods and that goes hand-in-hand with the residents participation programs,” Dupies added, noting the program will reach out to unemployed or underemployed workers and bring them into family-sustaining positions.

The trades face an age gap, where many older workers are retiring and not enough younger workers are coming in, so Gilbane is working with WRTP|Big Step and Employ Milwaukee to go into local high schools and talk about trades careers, Dupies said. The project will include a “healthy amount” of apprentices both from the general contractors and specialty trades onboard, she added.

A $500 million project with hiring goals like the Tower and Commons will have a widespread impact on jobs beyond construction, Dupies explained. Industries such as trucking, supply and fabrication will also feel the jolt.

The incoming work would have a “huge impact” on the economy and would bring in hundreds of construction workers, Rick Schmidt, chairman and CEO of the board of Milwaukee-based CG Schmidt, said.

The project calls for taking the North Office building, built in the early ‘90’s, gutting the insides and taking off the outer envelope of the building, Schmidt said. The original structure will remain with the outside replaced with a glassy façade in the spirit of the existing Tower and Commons, he added.

Of the nearly 200 subcontractors and vendors who attended Northwestern Mutual’s information session, at least a third had worked on the Tower and Commons by show of hands.

Northwestern Mutual will work with Milwaukee-based Cross Management Services, Inc., and the City of Milwaukee Office of Equity and Inclusion to help fulfill its RPP goals and build up a workforce, officials said during the briefing. Houston-based Hines will serve as the development manager, with Kendall/Heaton Associates and Pickard Chilton as the architects and Gilbane and CG Schmidt as the construction manager.

The company plans to have bid packages for its “A Trades” such as demolition, cranes and concrete trades in July of 2023, plans showed. Bid packages for “B Trades” such as masonry, carpentry and waterproofing open in November of 2023. A third bid package for interior work will be ready in the second quarter of 2024, according to plans.

Northwestern Mutual will have plans and specifications for bidding out Wednesday. Demolition bids are due July 31 and bids are due August 11, according to project officials.

Pipeline sessions for demolition will take place July 18, project officials said. Sessions for a swath of different trades including concrete, roofing, deep foundations and elevators will take place on July 25 and July 26.

First-tier contractors are encouraged to use the Compass app for prequalification, Northwestern Mutual officials said. To tackle its workforce inclusion goals, Milwaukee officials and professional services management will use SkillSmart.