Johnson Health Tech. Co. Ltd., a Taiwanese-based exercise equipment seller and manufacturer, is closing its South Milwaukee plant and relocating its employees to Sturtevant.
The company, which also has a Wisconsin location in Cottage Grove, has leased 209,151 square feet of space at 1333 Grandview Parkway from CenterPoint Property Trust. Paul McBride with Founders 3 represented Johnson Health Tech in the transaction.
“The building we are currently in is 70 years old and has not had too many updates done to it,” said Howard Launstein, Johnson Health Tech’s plant controller. “The building we are moving into will match our corporate image a lot better, which was important to the president of the company.”
About 55 employees will move from the South Milwaukee location to Sturtevant beginning in September. The location typically employs closer to 75 people, but Launstein said employment is down and several people have quit since hearing about the move.
Many of the people who worked at the South Milwaukee plant lived in the neighborhood and decided to find work elsewhere rather than move to Racine County, Launstein said.
Johnson Health Tech plans on hiring 25 people to work at the Sturtevant location over the next three years, Launstein said.
The South Milwaukee plant was originally Magnum Fitness, a developer of commercial strength training products for more than 30 years, before being acquired by Johnson Health Tech in 2012.
