Common Council clears way for Northwestern Mutual headquarters

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Milwaukee Common Council voted on Tuesday, April 30th to approve the creation of a tax incremental district which would help fund the addition of an office tower to the Northwestern Mutual campus in downtown Milwaukee.

The $350 million project is expected to begin later this year -- and will create a 1.1 million square foot, 30-story tower. Common Council President Willie Hines said in a news release, the project "will help generate jobs and additional development while keeping one of the nation's top corporate entities in a new downtown Milwaukee headquarters."

TID 78 would fund an annual payment to Northwestern Mutual for up to 25 years, equal to 70% of any new property taxes and up to $54 million. That money will go to offset Northwestern Mutual’s costs as they demolish an aging 451,000 square-foot office building on the downtown Northwestern Mutual campus. An additional $19.3 million in public infrastructure, a workforce and business development program and administrative costs would also be funded by the district.

Once complete in 2017, the new Northwestern Mutual headquarters office tower will be the largest single building in Wisconsin by square footage.