Komatsu South Harbor Campus

Komatsu Mining Corp., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of construction and mining equipment, developed a 60-acre vacant brownfield site overlooking Milwaukee’s inner harbor on Lake Michigan. The new corporate campus includes:

• A 185,000-square-foot, three-story office building that will be connected to a museum, a laboratory and a training center
• A four-story, 650-space parking structure and a 250-space surface parking lot
• A 440,000-square-foot manufacturing plant

The manufacturing building consists of structural slabs, pile foundations and a superstructure supporting large overhead bridge crane and a solar PV. This development allowed Komatsu to move and consolidate its manufacturing operations and offices from West Milwaukee and Milwaukee’s far west site. Ultimately, the company plans to employ about 1,000 people at the South Harbor site, which will manufacture giant shovels and other mining equipment.

Sustainability was a top priority of the project, as well as the ongoing operation of the facility. Due to the condition of the site as a former gas company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources oversaw the hazardous waste cleanup and remediation. Solar panels were installed on the roof of the manufacturing plant, which is now a “net zero” facility that will create more electricity than it consumes. The plant will also reclaim 40 percent of all water it consumes. Additionally, the office building achieves a LEED Gold certified rating.

The campus is a public destination featuring an outdoor plaza with equipment on display including a giant P&H-branded electric mining shovel, the company’s flagship product, as well as a large Komatsu dump truck. The plaza includes educational kiosks, interactive displays, canoe launches, a public park and a riverwalk that will extend from the end of Greenfield Avenue up the Kinnickinnic River to South Kinnickinnic Avenue on the city’s near south side.