MILWAUKEE | Johnson Controls HQ | FT | 50 FLOORS (potential new tallest for the city)

[bucksfan15]

Johnson Controls to decide on downtown expansion within 12 months

An expansion by Johnson Controls could significantly boost the downtown economy, and developing the site in question is a key step to continuing downtown's momentum.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by xboarder84

No offense, but as a Clevelander I hope it doesn't beat out Key Tower. We may not have a lot, but we are proud of the things we do have! And that tower is magnificent to us locals.

no offense, but records are meant to be broken. cleveland's key tower has had a good long 25 year run of standing as the tallest building in the midwest outside of chicago. if this JCI tower turns out to be taller than key tower, then maybe that will eventually spur a minneapolis developer to build an even taller building. then, in turn, that might inspire a cleveland developer to build a still taller building.

and so on and so forth, the sky is the limit!

also, it's important to remember that the distinction of "tallest building in the midwest outside of chicago" doesn't hold a tremendous amount of meaning in any real sense, it's more of an obscure point of curiosity for stat nerds like us.

[sensei]

I'm all for JC building a tower in Milwaukee taller than Cleveland's tower. But even if it's 'only' 50 stories, that's better than anything else that been built here. And heck, Cleveland only has two (2) skyscrapers (if that's what you want to call them).

[Steely Dan]

here's a little non-update update:

About that Office Tower

Johnson Controls has been the center of much speculation that it would develop an office tower downtown in the near future. A questioner asked Molinaroli his plans.

“An office tower downtown?” Molinaroli responded. “I’ve heard anything from 50 to 80 stories,” Molinaroli joked. He says the company’s master plan commits it to Milwaukee, “but we haven’t made a decision. We have lots on our plate [with the corporate reorganization], so there is no big announcement.”

source:http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2016/01/06...rink-ceo-says/

[aaron38]

And another American company bites the dust:
Johnson Controls and Tyco to merge, to be based in low-tax Ireland
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/johnso...121837019.html

I wonder how this is going to affect the plans for the new tower? Won't be the global headquarters anymore, just North America.

[Steely Dan]

^ it'll be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

i hope it doesn't mean the death of this long-rumored HQ tower.

[Busy Bee]

Death of the long-rumored HQ tower? Maybe.

Death of my respect for Johnson Controls? Most definitely.

[Steely Dan]

Forumer needhair from SSC (who seems to have an inside track on milwaukee development info) implied that he has seen a finalized design for this project and that it would stand 52 stories high.

Still nothing official though, so grains of salt and all of that.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Forumer needhair from SSC (who seems to have an inside track on milwaukee development info) implied that he has seen a finalized design for this project and that it would stand 52 stories high.

Still nothing official though, so grains of salt and all of that.

If that's the case, I would love to see a building with a height similar to 150 Riverside or River Point in Chicago...maybe close to 800'...?

[Steely Dan]

update:

Johnson Controls CEO reaffirms commitment to Milwaukee and disputes Clinton commercial

A new office building for Johnson Controls Inc. near Milwaukee's lakefront is "still on the table," but don't expect an immediate decision on that, given the company is in the process of dramatic changes including a spinoff and merger with Tyco International, the company's chairman said Friday.

Johnson Controls last year received city funding to study a potential office development site, about three acres south of E. Clybourn St. and west of N. Lincoln Memorial Drive.

The company has been evaluating the possibility of a move to help it consolidate its local offices — now located in Glendale, West Allis as well as downtown Milwaukee.

The company's planning process found that there were constraints to expanding at any of the local sites where the company now operates, including its campus in Glendale and the E. Michigan St. headquarters of the building efficiency business.

As part of the merger with Tyco, expected to be completed later this year, the company will be consolidating the headquarters operations of Tyco, now run from Princeton, N.J., with the Johnson Controls headquarters functions here.

"We've made the decision to be in Milwaukee," Molinaroli said, who said he expected a final decision would occur while he's still running the company, meaning over the next two years. "Now we have to optimize that decision."

source: http://www.jsonline.com/business/joh...372571811.html

[Steely Dan]

a small update via twitter from Tom Daykin, the commercial real estate reporter for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Johnson Controls still interested in possible lakefront office tower, development commissioner Rocky Marcoux tells Redevelopment Authority

source: https://twitter.com/TomDaykin?ref_sr...Ctwgr%5Eauthor

[mbradleyc]

Originally Posted by Boisebro

a different angle:

When you see the new ramps for the Lake Interchange and how they will connect to the on/off ramps, nearly everything northeast of the westbound mainline is going to be available for development. That's really a huge piece of land. You could build just as big a tower as you want to there.

[Boisebro]

Originally Posted by mbradleyc

When you see the new ramps for the Lake Interchange and how they will connect to the on/off ramps, nearly everything northeast of the westbound mainline is going to be available for development. That's really a huge piece of land. You could build just as big a tower as you want to there.

i wondered if the rumors Johnson Controls tower was going to be in that vicinity.

there are plenty of underdeveloped lots in the core that could use some high-rise love, but the area around the interchange certainly has great potential.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Boisebro

i wondered if the rumors Johnson Controls tower was going to be in that vicinity.

The plot that mbradleyc was talking about is the exact piece of land that the long-rumored JCI tower is slated to go on, if it ever becomes a real thing. <fingers crossed>

[Steely Dan]

also, we're coming up on the 1 year anniversary of when JCI's CEO said the company would make a decision on whether or not to move forward with the downtown HQ project. it was sept. 15, 2015 when he first publicly mentioned the 1 year timeline, and who knows if they'll stick to it or not now that they're they're in the middle of their merger with tyco.

time will tell.

[Steely Dan]

update. here's an excerpt from a milwaukee business journal interview with JCI CEO Alex Molinaroli on the JCI/Tyco merger:

Are there any particular examples of this beyond the operational headquarters being here?

"I think that everybody wants to know if we’re going to build a building. That’s something that needs to be sorted out. We’re not announcing that we’re building a building today.

"(Tyco’s) New Jersey offices are closing and the headquarters functions that currently sit in Princeton, New Jersey, will be housed here in Milwaukee. We have a commitment to China and Asia, also, and that hasn’t changed. The merger agreement says this is where we’re going to be and this is where (Tyco CEO) George Oliver is going to live and it’s about as clear as you can get."

source: http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee...-explains.html



it sounds like more waiting before we'll get a decision on the new downtown HQ building. bummer.

[Steely Dan]

well, it looks like we won't know if anything will ever come of this long-rumored project for another whole year.

Decision on possible Johnson Controls office tower at least a year away
Company focusing on recently completed merger with Tyco International

by Corrinne Hess and Arthur Thomas
October 27, 2016, 12:32 PM


Johnson Controls International plc won’t make a decision about whether or not to build a new office tower in downtown Milwaukee for at least a year and will instead continue to focus on its recently completed merger with Tyco International, according to a company spokesman.

“Our focus right now is on completing the merger,” said Fraser Engerman, spokesman for Johnson Controls. “No decisions have been made regarding our facilities master planning for Milwaukee. With our focus on completing the Tyco merger integration, we won’t reach a decision for at least another year or so.”

Last year, Johnson Controls and the City of Milwaukee agreed to split the cost of a $500,000 feasibility study for development at a site southwest of the intersection of East Clybourn Street and North Lincoln Memorial Drive, which is being opened up by the relocation of freeway ramps. City officials are hoping to lure a major corporate headquarters to the site.

In September 2015, Johnson Controls president and CEO Alex Molinaroli predicted a decision on the downtown site within a year, leaving people anxiously awaiting news of a possible 50-story, 1.2 million-square-foot building, which has been rumored since at least early 2015, near the lakefront.

The tower would be another game changer for the downtown Milwaukee. By comparison, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. is building a 32-story, 1.1 million-square-foot office building at its downtown Milwaukee corporate headquarters campus. The U.S. Bank Center at 777 E. Wisconsin Ave. is 42 stories tall with 1.07 million square feet of space, according to city records.

source: https://www.biztimes.com/2016/10/27/...t-a-year-away/

[Steely Dan]

here's a shot of the cleared site. everything looks ready to go, too bad we have to wait another entire year to find out if JCI is even gonna pull the trigger on this project or not.

Originally Posted by MilArch

The site is looking ready for future development!

[sentinel]

^ I think they're obviously going to build something there, considering the site is being cleared AND that it is a prime piece of lakefront-adjacent property.

I'm not surprised that they are waiting to disclose anything regarding a new highrise global HQ, since M&A issues rarely resolve themselves within a given time-frame. But I also suspect that they're waiting to see how well-received the Northwest Mutual tower is once it's complete and the company has fully moved in...more from a capital investment perspective in terms of how people are using the space, if downtown Milwaukee can easily absorb such a large commercial project and forecasting what their potential ROI can be, with a lot of other factors that I can't even think of right now.

Another thing that I realized is that for a project that is 50 stories and potentially 700' tall or more, the design process alone can take a year if not longer, before any information is actually even released to the public...and that they have most likely already partnered with an architecture firm and are working on some very preliminary designs (concept sketches, massing models, sun-path diagramming, etc, etc). I have a feeling that some of that information regarding if they've partnered with a firm will start trickling in within the next few months, not an entire year..

[CastleScott]

And another American company bites the dust:
Johnson Controls and Tyco to merge, to be based in low-tax Ireland
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/johnso...121837019.html

I wonder how this is going to affect the plans for the new tower? Won't be the global headquarters anymore, just North America.

Don't know if this will help, but when Trump takes office in January he's planning on reducing the corporate tax to 33% from the current 39.56% which he promised as the biggest tax cuts since Ronald Reagan.

Btw I think this tower will be at least 750 with a flat top-with a crown or something more maybe in the 800-840 range-I believe there is a 50 story tower with a pointy top in Atlanta that's around 820 (Denver's tall 3 are in the 700-715 range but they were built in the 80s and have flat roofs)..