Partnership With New Developer Positions Company to Add Jobs to Milwaukee
Milwaukee – Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced today that the city is working with a newly established development company and a long-term tenant, Derse, to build a light-manufacturing facility in the Menomonee Valley.
HSI Development Partners LLC, a Milwaukee-based real estate development and construction management company, is negotiating a purchase-for-sale agreement to buy land at what is considered the “gateway” to the Valley, just east of the Miller Park parking lot along Canal Street. The company has proposed to build a $10 million, 160,000-square-foot, custom-designed facility, which will be leased long-term to Derse Inc., a national company based in Wauwatosa that is best known for its high-tech, large-scale exhibition booths for clients including Coca-Cola, Samsung, Harley-Davidson, Miller Brewing and Abbott Laboratories, among others.
“We’re happy to be able to bring these two companies – one that is well-established in the fabric of our community and the other, a young development firm with an entrepreneurial vision – to the table to help develop an important area of the city that is undergoing great change,” said Mayor Barrett. “We look forward to working with these companies to bring expanded economic development and family-supporting jobs into the city.”
Derse, currently based in Wauwatosa, will move its headquarters to a new facility in the Valley, allowing the company to add 20 new jobs to its 140-employee workforce. The 59-year-old company also has operations in the Chicago, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Dallas metro areas, and works with international clients. Employees at the new Valley facility will include those who create, build and manage high-end exhibition experiences that include everything from electronic media, graphics, metal fabrication, carpentry and activities at trade show sites, as well as corporate office employees.
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to build one of our company’s first major projects in an area of Milwaukee that is being re-born and revitalized,” said Ryan Schultz, an HSI principal who co-founded HSI this year with Brett Haney, whose father, Bill Haney, is CEO of Derse.
“The proposed site at the gateway to the Valley has an excitement and energy of which
we want to be a part. We view this project as a long-term commitment to the city.”
The proposed building’s forward-looking design, created by Eppstein Uhen Architects, primarily incorporates pre-cast concrete and glass materials.
“We’re looking forward to moving ahead in the process toward purchase,” said Brett Haney, adding that the purchase is contingent on city approval of purchase, appropriate tax credits and confirmation of proper environmental site evaluation.
Bill Haney said he hopes to move Derse’s headquarters by as early as the summer of 2008.
“We look forward to having a new facility, which will help allow us to expand and evolve our operations, while continuing our long-time commitment to the area,” said Bill Haney.
For more information on Derse Inc., visit www.derse.com. For more information on HSI Development Partners, visit www.hsidevelopment.com.
