Wangard Partners, Inc. (WPI) received the prestigious Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21 Brick & Mortar Award on September 28th for the redevelopment of 1433 North Water Street (formerly the Laacke & Joys storefront).1433 North Water Street is a 115,000 SF Class A office building that was rehabilitated from a retail space into Class A office space for one of the largest creative/advertising agencies in Milwaukee – Bader Rutter Associates. The building is five stories with 23,000 SF floor plates featuring Downtown RiverWalk amenities that are highly sought after for client and staff entertainment. While the building’s cream city brick pays homage to the rich history of this landmark building it also offers a blend of uses to ease and simplify the many varied lifestyle needs for those working within the building every day."We're just very excited about being part of the transformation going on in downtown Milwaukee. We want to be a transformative element for our clients' marketing programs and we want to be thought of as a destination agency. This is an exciting time; we continue grow; built a heck of an agency, look forward to the future, can sense the energy and the building shows the city so wonderfully!”

- Greg Nickerson, CEO | Bader Rutter

The building encompasses several sustainable features including: rooftop photovoltaic systems, geothermal HVAC and it is participating in the City’s Better Building Challenge. Recently a stop in the Doors Open Milwaukee showcase, the building will participate in the NEWaukee/NAIOP Empty Storefronts Conference on November 6th.The Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21 is celebrating 20 years of accomplishments this year and the awards ceremony recently held at the Milwaukee Athletic Club played host to an annual meeting to share accomplishments, goals and the Downtown Achievement Awards.“As we celebrate downtown achievements, the redevelopment of 1433 North Water Street was a clear choice. Wangard Partners and Bader Rutter have transformed downtown Milwaukee’s north end, combining functionality with aesthetics and enhancing the connectivity of the RiverWalk. Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21 is pleased to present the Brick & Mortar Award to celebrate this leading-edge achievement.”

- Beth Weirick, CEO | Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21

To view a complete list of award winners, please visit the Urban Milwaukee webpage.