M. A. Mortenson's work on the Kilbourn Tower in downtown Milwaukee is already visible from the Zoo Interchange about six miles away.

Sky's the limit for
Mortenson's Kilbourn Tower

If everything goes right, M. A. Mortenson should have its head in the clouds right around the middle of November.

And if that's the case, Milwaukee should have a new addition to its skyline at about the same time. Kilbourn Tower won't be complete, but it should be topped off, taking its place as the second-tallest building in downtown Milwaukee. US Bank is the tallest.

Mortenson started the project in July 2003 when it dug down 70 feet to build the four-level, underground parking garage that serves as the base for the 215,000-square-foot tower. The contractor made it back to ground level in March and has been laying new levels on the 33-story building at a clip of about one floor every four days ever since.

Constructing the post-tension concrete structure, which is enclosed with curtain wall and precast with punched windows, has required Mortenson to run the core walls of the building up two levels ahead of each floor its laying. That pace hasn't been easy, especially considering that the contractor has been working in a tight, urban setting on Kilbourn and Prospect avenues, and it's only been using one tower crane for the job.

"I think logistics are the hardest part of the project," said Chris Norcross, Mortenson's senior project manager. "Any time you're on a high rise, it's all about hook time. It's very important on a daily basis that time with the crane is managed."

Project Specs

Project Name: Kilbourn Tower
Location: Milwaukee
General Contractor: M. A. Mortenson Co., Brookfield
Production Architect: SCB Architecture, Chicago
Owner: Fiduciary Real Estate Development, Milwaukee
Estimated Project Cost: $45 million
Start Date: July 2003
Scheduled Completion: June 2005

Project Fact

Prices for condominiums at Kilbourn Tower start at $690,000. The layout of the new building features three condos per floor from the third to 22nd floors, two condos per floor from the 23rd to 27th floors and one condo per floor from the 28th floor to the top.

It's also important that Mortenson attend to the needs of the owners of the 74 luxury condos in the tower.

"We're actually building out individual units," Norcross said. "People who own these units are coming in and making their own choices for the level of finish."

It's a lot to take in for the contractor, and Norcross said the key to keeping the project under control and on schedule is staying organized.

"It's coordination, it's preplanning, it's making sure that what we scheduled two weeks ago is still going to happen," he said.

But staying organized doesn't necessarily make it any easier waiting for the project to reach completion.

"When you're in construction and on a job, it can never go fast enough for you," Norcross said. "The big push is getting the building enclosed and the tower crane down, hopefully by the end of the year."

— Chris Thompson

Sky's the limit for Mortenson's Kilbourn Tower

Sky's the limit for
Mortenson's Kilbourn Tower