Tom Daykin

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. plans to lease a large portion of Foxconn Technology Group's North American headquarters in downtown Milwaukee for roughly the next year or so.

The financial services firm will use the entire second, third and fourth floors of the seven-story building, 611 E. Wisconsin Ave., according to newly issued city building permits.

That would total about 54,000 square feet, according to city assessment records.

Baird will use that space for general office purposes, according to the building permits. Some of that space will be remodeled.

Baird has been based for several years at the neighboring U.S. Bank Center, 777 E. Wisconsin Ave.

The Foxconn space will house some of Baird's employees to help "facilitate timely completion of renovations" at the U.S. Bank Center, said a company statement issued Thursday.

"We expect the associates to move back in early 2020," the statement said.

Baird in 2013 renewed its U.S. Bank Center headquarters lease for 15 years.

It leases 286,000 square feet on 14 floors, and is the 1.06 million-square-foot building's largest tenant.

Baird has been remodeling that space to include more open floor plans, cafes and other casual gathering areas, as well as a new conference center.

The company has had strong growth.

Baird, which is privately held, in April said it posted record revenue and operating income in 2017.

Baird said revenue totaled $1.53 billion last year, up about 10 percent from $1.39 billion in 2016.

It marked the eighth consecutive year of record revenue for the employee-owned company. Baird's businesses include wealth management, capital markets, asset management and private equity.

Baird's 2017 operating income of $199 million was 28 percent higher than $155 million in 2016, and also was up for the eighth straight year.

Space for other companies

Foxconn in June took control of the downtown building, which has about 133,000 square feet.

A Foxconn subsidiary, Fewi Development Corp., paid $14,950,000 for the 54-year-old building and its 2-acre site.

The Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer is developing its display-panel factory in Mount Pleasant in Racine County.

FULL COVERAGE:Foxconn in Wisconsin

The downtown building is serving as Foxconn's North American headquarters. Foxconn has said up to 550 employees eventually could be working there.

Foxconn executives have said they plan to host other companies at the building, including those that provide venture capital.

Also, those plans include an "innovation center" that would work with startups and entrepreneurs to develop applications for the advanced display technology Foxconn will produce in Mount Pleasant.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.