GRAEF opens new headquarters in The Avenue in Milwaukee A New Chapter Begins

GRAEF opens new headquarters in The Avenue in Milwaukee

About 175 GRAEF employees who packed their stuff into bankers boxes before the holiday break spent Monday settling into a new headquarters office in the top floor of The Avenue in downtown Milwaukee.

The move opens a new chapter for the engineering firm and for the former Shops of Grand Avenue. GRAEF is the first new tenant to move into the former West Wisconsin Avenue mall’s west arcade, which is being converted into offices and a first-floor food hall.

Employees gathered Monday morning for a welcome by president and CEO John Kissinger, who thanked everyone for their effort in the move and discussed the importance of GRAEF’s presence to the surrounding Westown neighborhood. GRAEF was the first large company to publicly commit to move into Westown during the ongoing wave of West Wisconsin Avenue building rehabs attempting to refill empty offices.

Patrick Kressin, GRAEF vice president and principal, said he’s seen employees gathering around their third-floor office space’s windows, taking in views of the surrounding city.

“That was a really good testament to why we made this decision,” he said.

GRAEF occupies 37,500 square feet in The Avenue, and moved from the Honey Creek Corporate Center near the Zoo Interchange.

To read more about the new headquarters, see this story in The Milwaukee Business Journal.