Accounting firm Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP plans to move its Milwaukee office to the proposed Washington Square office tower in downtown Milwaukee.
Washington Square is a 22- to 26-story building proposed for a vacant lot southeast of Mason Street and Jefferson Street downtown. A joint venture of Wauwatosa-based Irgens Development Partners LLC and Van Buren Management Inc. plan to build the building.
Baker Tilly said it has signed a formal letter of intent for the project.
“We are now working toward a definitive lease agreement,” said Bill Wertz, partner and market leader of Baker Tilly’s Milwaukee office. “There are details that need to be working out with the final lease. We just wanted to make our commitment known so (the developers) can move forward with the city.”
The letter of intent is a nine-page document and a firm commitment to the project, Wertz said.
Baker Tilly said it will lease 60,000 square feet of space in the building. The firm plans to move its Milwaukee office from the Honey Creek Corporate Center at 135 S. 84th St. on the west side of Milwaukee to the Washington Square building in 2013.
“We considered a number of possible locations over the past few years and feel the downtown Washington Square project is consistent with our objectives,” Wertz said. “We have determined that downtown is where we need to be to meet our growth plans and to help develop our people. Washington Square provides an ideal location in the heart of the city’s business district.”
The Washington Square site is across Jefferson Street from the Pfister Hotel in the middle of the central business district. The location will help improve Baker Tilly’s networking efforts with the city’s business community, Wertz said.
Baker Tilly, which has about 200 employees in its Milwaukee office, is the second major tenant to commit to the Washington Square project. In January, the Godfrey & Kahn S.C. law firm announced that it will move its office from the Marshall & Ilsley Corp. headquarters building at 780 N. Water St. downtown to Washington Square, and will occupy 90,000 to 100,000 square feet of space.
However, unlike Baker Tilly, Godfrey & Kahn has already signed a lease for the projec
