The Milwaukee Center office tower has officially been sold to Associated Bank for $60.5 million.
Chicago-based Hub Milwaukee River Center Properties LLC sold the 28-story downtown office building to Milwaukee Center Management LLC, a Green Bay-based affiliate of the bank, on March 31. Associated Bank previously announced the planned purchase and CEO Phillip Flynn explained the reasoning behind the move.
Milwaukee’s Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. represented Associated Bank in the transaction.
The Milwaukee Center, located at 111 E. Kilbourn Ave., was built in 1988. It is the sixth largest multi-tenant office property in downtown Milwaukee and the fourth tallest building in the state. It adjoins Associated’s new Private Client Services Office as well as the Intercontinental Hotel.
In 2008, Equity Commonwealth, a real estate investment trust then known as HRPT Properties Trust, purchased the Milwaukee Center building from Transwestern Investment Co. for $53 million. The building is currently assessed at $49.5 million, according to city records.
With the Milwaukee Center purchase, all of Associated’s Milwaukee market employees who aren’t based at a branch will be moved into the same office space. About 320 employees will shift from a 97,000-square-foot space in the downtown Plaza East building to the Milwaukee Center beginning in 2021 and continuing into 2022 as those leases expire, Flynn said.
Associated will occupy between one-quarter and one-third of the 373,000-square-foot tower. The Milwaukee Center is 81.7 percent leased right now.
