Brookfield-based fintech company
Fiserv, Inc. is once again seriously considering plans to relocate its corporate headquarters within the metro Milwaukee area, according to multiple sources.
Fiserv, a Fortune 500 company, recently retained the
Corporate Advisory & Transaction Services team for CBRE's Milwaukee office, including executive vice president Bill Bonifas, senior vice president Matthew Cariello and senior transaction manager Kenzie Kiefer to reignite its search for a new location for its corporate headquarters, currently located at 255 Fiserv Drive in Brookfield.
Fiserv has considered relocating its headquarters office since 2017, if not earlier. The company's search for a new headquarters became public that year when it issued an RFP looking for a 125,000-square-foot building. At the time, several developers made proposals to Fiserv for new headquarters developments in the metro Milwaukee area. The company
narrowed its search to three sites including The Corridor in Brookfield, the UWM Innovation Campus in Wauwatosa and Reed Street Yards in Milwaukee, but never moved forward.
In late 2019
the company reignited its search for a new headquarters location, but those plans were apparently put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States a few months later.
But now Fiserv is "back in the market," Bonifas said. The company is considering all options within the metro Milwaukee area, he said.
"They're committed to a headquarters concept here (in the Milwaukee area)," Bonifas said. "This is a world class organization. They want a world class solution. It has to be a 10 out of 10."
Bonifas declined to discuss specific sites that Fiserv is considering, but said the company is seeking in excess of 100,000 square feet of office space.
"We have some very good options," he said. "We like some more than others."
Some sources said that Fiserv is seriously considering the
HUB640 building in downtown Milwaukee. The five-story building, now owned by Chicago-based North Wells Capital, is located at 640 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave., along Wisconsin Avenue. The historic building was the long-time home of downtown Milwaukee's Boston Store and a corporate headquarters office for its parent company, The Bon-Ton Stores Inc., until the company went out of business in 2018. North Wells Capital is redeveloping the building with retail space on the ground floor and office space on the upper four floors.
Kohl's plans to open a store on the building's first floor. The office space on the upper floors is largely vacant, but office tenants currently in the building include North Shore Healthcare, Abacus Architects and Eight Eleven Group.
Sources indicated that other areas Fiserv either is considering or has considered recently for a new corporate headquarters location include the Deer District, the Third Ward and Walker's Point.
Bonifas declined to discuss any of those options and emphasized that no deal is in place. "We don't have a solution," he said.
However, momentum appears to be building for Fiserv to make a move, Bonifas said.
"The project does have momentum," he said. "We expect progress throughout the summer. Right now the momentum is (for the company) to relocate."
