Northwestern plans new downtown Milwaukee office building

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. plans to build a new office tower in downtown Milwaukee.

The 840,000-square-foot building could be more than 30 stories. The company says the tower would replace Northwestern Mutual's 16-story building and would be built once the existing building is demolished.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports Northwestern Mutual plans to seek $48 million in city financing for the $300 million project. The new building would be completed in 2017.

Company executives and city officials say the downtown project would retain 1,100 employees now housed at the building that would be razed. Northwestern Mutual currently has 3,600 downtown employees and expects to add up to 1,700 additional downtown employees by 2027.

The life insurance and financial services company also has 2,000 employees at its Franklin campus.