Middleton Partners Snags Milwaukee CBD Asset

By IvyLee Rosario

411 East Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee

An affiliate of Middleton Partners purchased 411 E. Wisconsin Ave., in Milwaukee, from Riverview Realty Partners. 

The 30-story Class A multi-tenant office tower is located in the heart of Milwaukee’s CBD. Comprising 693,132 square feet of rental office space and 1,402 parking stalls, the tower is connected through the enclosed atrium lobby to a three-story building currently housing a PNC bank. 

Award Winning 

The building and Riverview were also rewarded with The Outstanding Building of the Year Award from BOMA, winning in the 500,000 to one million square feet category. To win an International TOBY Award, a property must first win both local and regional competitions. Judging is based on:

• Community impact
• Tenant/employee relations programs
• Energy management systems
• Accessibility
• Emergency evacuation procedures
• Building personnel training programs
• Overall quality indicators

Capital Improvements 

Since acquiring the property in 2014, Riverview has invested $17.3 million in upgrades. These improvements included renovating the lobby to feature new lighting, stone restoration and a new security desk, a tenant lounge with Wi-Fi, an atrium renovation, upgrades to the cafe and business center, elevator modernization, updated corridors, parking garage improvements and HVAC mechanical updates, including new chillers. 

“We are pleased to announce both the sale of 411 E. Wisconsin, which we believe is the largest Milwaukee CBD office asset sale in 2017 year-to-date, and the Property winning the International TOBY Award,” said Jeffrey Patterson, Riverview Realty Partners’ president & CEO, in prepared remarks. “The property was 76 percent leased when we acquired it in 2014 and we were able to complete numerous new leases with high-quality tenants to bring to occupancy up to above 89 percent, while at the same time achieving a rental rate growth of 21 percent since our acquisition. In addition, we were able to extend the lease terms of several large tenants at the building.”

Riverview acted as the property manager for the project and was responsible for overseeing leasing through CBRE, after redeveloping the building. Middleton has retained Riverview’s on-site management team, who have joined the Milwaukee affiliate of Colliers International. 

The CBRE sales team of Executive Vice President Paul Lundstedt, Senior Vice President Dan Deuter and Senior Associate Tom Sitz, represented the seller. Draper and Kramer’s Senior Vice President Bill Barry and Vice President Bill Stewart assisted the buyer with financing.

Middleton Partners has engaged Vice President Matt Hunter and Broker Jim Cavanaugh of CBRE to continue their leasing efforts at the building.

Image courtesy of Google Street View