Buildings
Gilbane Team Picked for $500M Northwestern Mutual Office Modernization
A rendering (right) shows the planned modernization of Northwestern Mutual's existing North Office Building (left) in downtown Milwaukee.
Images courtesy of Northwestern Mutual
Insurance and financial firm Northwestern Mutual selected a team of Gilbane Building Co. with CG Schmidt as general contractor and construction manager for its $500-million project to modernize its 33-year-old North Office Building at its Milwaukee headquarters campus. The renovation will enable the company to relocate about 2,000 employees from a suburban office in Franklin, Wis., to its downtown campus, says Northwestern.
A list of the anticipated bid packages and information on becoming prequalified are available on Gilbane’s web page for the project. Representatives from more than 100 firms attended a contractor information session about the project earlier this month, according to Gilbane and Schmidt.
Plans call for a gut rehabilitation of the 540,000-sq-ft building, including a new curtain wall, more-efficient floor plans and new mechanical systems. Work also calls for new connecting structures from the 19-story building to others on the campus.
The building team also includes Pickard Chilton and Kendall/Heaton, for architecture and engineering; development manager Hines; and Cross Management Services, which will recruit small business enterprises to help Northwestern meet its commitment to use small business enterprises for 25% of the construction value.
Gilbane and Milwaukee-based CG Schmidt previously collaborated on Northwestern’s neighboring Tower and Commons project, which they completed in 2017. That project involved construction of a 32-story tower and adjoining four-story, two-block-long commons building.
Work on the modernization may start as soon as this fall. Completion is planned for 2027.
