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Global Water Center 9

Global Water Center

In 2011, 98,000 square feet of abandoned warehouse space in Walker’s Point neighborhood of Milwaukee stood with no purpose other than to collect the dirt and grime of city life. That all changed when The Water Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing water technology, and its member companies decided to call the old seven-story building home.

The Global Water Center, located at 247 Freshwater Way, broke ground on August 13, 2012, with the help of $20 million in New Markets Tax Credits from WHEDA. These tax credits were used to redevelop the structure into world-class office and research space. The center was WHEDA’s first investment in a larger initiative known as Transform Milwaukee (TM), a public-private partnership that focuses on restoring industrial, residential, and economic prosperity to areas of Milwaukee. TM spanned from the 30th Street Industrial Corridor through the Menomonee Valley, to the Inner Harbor, ending just south of General Mitchell International Airport.

Today, more than 40 tenant organizations join The Water Council at the Global Water Center. The location of the center is also near the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, the nation’s only graduate-level institution devoted to freshwater sciences. The success of the project was a catalyst for the development of Reed Street Yards, an urban business park catering to Milwaukee’s water research and technology sector.

Did you know:

  • Access to clean drinking water is a global risk to health, security, and equity
  • 86% of Wisconsin’s borders are water
  • Wisconsin has seen a 7.4% increase in water related exports
  • 1.2 quadrillion gallons of groundwater flow through Wisconsin
  • More than 230 water technology companies call Wisconsin home

Source: The Water Council

Walker’s Point has been transformed into a lively mixed-use neighborhood and is home to a global water research hub. WHEDA is proud to have supported this development and subsequent ancillary projects that helped grow Walker’s Point into a great place to live, work, and play.

Learn more about Wisconsin’s water technology industry.

Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC): https://inwisconsin.com/key-industries-in-wisconsin/water-technology/